Tales of a Feather
by Sowelo
Summary: Sequel to New America. I thought everything in my life was finally back to normal. Well close enough to being normal after the events that had taken place in the spring of my senior year. It was summer; a time to hang with friends and family, to relax on the beach and decided wither I was going to college or not. But like always, nothing ever goes quite as planned.
1. Chapter 1

I was in a deep slumber, till my older siblings slammed into me.

I gasped as Melissa Arora sat herself on my back and Johnny Hawkfeather held my legs down. "Guess what day it is Amy," she giggled.

"Crush Your Little Sister Day," I said through gritted teeth.

"No, it's your birthday!"

My eyes widened, "wait; wait!"

But they didn't listen; Johnny tightens his hold and Melissa brought her hand down on my bottom, "One!" Then she slapped it again, "two!"

This went on for another sixteen times, and finally she reached the last slap, "and one to grow!"

I cried, "Get off!"

Both of them laughed and jumped off the bed. I was rubbing my sore ass through my Wonder Woman pajama shorts. "Shit! I think you left a bruise."

"This is coming from a supernatural that can heal almost instantly." Melissa crossed her slim arms. Her dark hair was in soft curls and her dark eyes gleamed with mischief.

Johnny smirked, his long black hair was free and flowed pass his shoulders. He checked his watch, the leather brown strap blended well with his light copper skin, the same shade as Melissa's. "And that will be in," he shrugged his shoulders, "a minute?"

The word 'supernatural' didn't fit. I'm not vampire or werewolf or anything cool like that. I'm a nation, the nation of the United States of America.

I narrowed my eyes at them and they giggled. "Aw, look at her, she's so cute when she glares," Melissa pinched my cheek.

"If you two are done harassing your sister," Mom's voice ringed from the bottom of the stairs. "Come down and help me with breakfast."

"Food!" Johnny exclaimed and ran down the stairs.

"You're not eating anything! You're helping us cook." Melissa shook her head, "he's twenty-five and he still acts like a teenager."

"And you're Ms. Mature," I lifted an eyebrow at her.

She ignored my statement and walked to the door, "Make sure you wear something nice for your party tonight."

"Yeah, yeah," I yawned and rose from my bed. Lady, my medium sized Cocker Spaniel was stretching at the foot of the bed. I scratched her behind her light brown floppy ears; this light brown circled around her dark eyes and scattered patches over her freshly cut white fur. It was longer, but with the weather reaching in the hundreds we knew it was best to have it short.

Dad called Lady down and she leaped off the bed and ran out the door. I stretched my arms and bended out my knees, trying to wake myself up. I took a quick shower and brushed my white teeth in the mirror. Once I was back in my room, I discarded the towel and slipped on my blue one piece swimsuit. Then I wore blue cut jean shorts and an indigo plaid button down shirt with no sleeves over the swimsuit. I slid my feet into a pair of flat, strap in brown sandals and sat myself in front of my vanity mirror.

I rubbed in some morocco oil into my blond curls and brushed through my hair with my fingers. The curls landed around the nape of my neck and touched the base of my shoulders. I grabbed a lock of hair and looked at it through the reflection of the mirror. I bit my bottom lip in annoyance; _it grew this long in two months? Maybe it has something to do with being a nation_, I wondered.

My eyes then glanced to the pictures around my mirror. Photos of family and friends, but three new faces have joined the party. These three people were young men, all blond and bright eyed. They're my blood relatives, well, now that I think about it; they're technically not, but we do share the same secret.

They're nations, just like me.

I stared at the pictures of Arthur Kirkland (Britain), Francis Bonnefoy (France) and Matthew Williams (Canada) at my brother's wedding. I'm sure most of you are confused, but to make a long story short. I was adopted by a human family, mostly because John Senior Hawkfeather knew the previous nation of America, Alfred F. Jones (my supposed father). The US government then concealed the fact that I was alive from the other nations and hid me away in my hometown of Summerland, California.

All my life I believed I was a normal teenage girl, till my spring break in New York City, where I met Arthur, Francis and Matthew. They took the liberty to tell me that I was a nation. It didn't go over well; I was in denial for a week, till my grandfather (John Senior Hawkfeather) left a video for me, explaining everything. Slowly, I got to know more about the nations I met in New York, but before I knew it I was thrown to the wolves in Austria. Figuratively and literally, all for the sake of protecting my family; but it didn't last long.

Ivan Braginski a.k.a Russia tracked me down and decided to inform all the other countries of my little secret. Everything kinda blew up after that. Luckily, thanks to Isabella Garcia (the president of the US) and the government, they were able to keep the nations away from my family and friends. They were also not to have any contact with me till my eighteenth birthday, which was today.

I sighed, a part of me hopes that they'll think I celebrate my birthday on the fourth of July rather than the first. I didn't think I was ready to deal with them just yet, I mean Arthur, Francis and Matthew were the exception of course, but the others were somewhat irritating.

When I was at the bottom of the stairs I was greeted by my adorable niece and nephew. They wrapped themselves around my waist; they're heads reaching my chest. They had grown.

"Happy birthday Aunt Amy," Blair Arora grinned, her permanent front teeth had grown into place and now had a winning smile. Her dark hair was in her natural waves down her back and her light brown skin mingled well with her simple pink summer dress.

Blake Arora was the quiet one of the twins, but he seemed to be growing out of it. "You're legal now, that means you're fair game for the nations."

I ruffled his dark short hair, "don't remind me."

He stared up at me with bright brown eyes, "If they ever hurt you, I'll make sure they pay for it."

My eyebrows rose, "You're eight-years-old, and you already think you can take on the world."

"Yes," he said without hesitation.

"Such a serious eight-year-old," their father, Sanjay Arora walked into the living room and wrapped his arm around his son's shoulders. "You're a kid, so act like one," he flicked his finger at Blake's forehead. Sanjay carried the same coloring as his children but the twins had the soft features of their mother. He pulled me into a hug, my head knocked against his shoulder, "happy birthday."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"My turn," Celine Hawkfeather, the most recent added member to our family wrapped me in another hug. Her light brown curls were in a ponytail and her pale green eyes shined lovingly.

Dad walked in from the kitchen, holding up a large plate of chocolate chip pancakes. "Breakfast is ready." His graying black hair was tied in a low ponytail and when he smiled his dark eyes gleamed and his copper skin winkled. But he was still quite handsome for his age.

We followed him to the kitchen table, where plates of eggs, sausage, and waffles were placed on the table. Pitchers of milk, water and orange juice stood at the center along with a vase filled with wild flowers.

We took our seats; Dad took the head of the table. Mom sat across from him, with Melissa on her right and Johnny on her left. Sanjay sat next to his wife as Blake took his seat next to him. Celine sat in the middle of Johnny and Blair as I sat on Dad's left and Aponi Hawkfeather, my grandmother sat across from me. The two month old baby, Raiden Arora sat in a high chair in between Melissa and Mom.

I'm sure if anyone looked through our window right now, I would stick out like a sore thumb. My family is filled with dark haired, dark eyed and natural tan skinned people, while I had blond hair and blue eyes. My fair skin on the other hand, had recently gotten a light tan, thanks to all the time I spent in the summer sun.

After we had our meal, they brought out the gifts. Sanjay and Melissa went first, "You're going to love it," Melissa grinned as Sanjay handed over a large white rectangle box with a blue bow tied around it.

I opened it up to find a stunning blue and violet sari. "Oh wow, Mel, thank you."

"Hey what about me," Sanjay said jokingly.

I gave him an apologetic smile, "Thank you Sanjay."

"Us next, us next, us next," Johnny chanted as he drummed his hands on the table. Celine handed over a bag filled with three graphic tees and two pairs of skinny jeans. One shirt was white with black fading sparrows flying across the shirt from the shoulder to the waist. The two other tees had written words on them. One was a purple tank with a quote written in white: 'Nobody is perfect until you fall in love with them.' The other was a black shirt with a phase written in bright blue: 'My death will probably be caused by being sarcastic at the wrong time.'

I laughed at the last shirt, "That most likely will happen."

Johnny raised his hand, "I picked that one."

"Of course," I beamed and turned to Dad, who was already pulling out two black boxes. "Remember your grandfather's ring?" he asked.

I nodded as I made a grab for the ring that was no longer around my neck. "I've been feeling naked ever since I lost it."

"Well," Mom bit her bottom lip nervously, "you didn't. I kinda borrowed it."

My eyes widened, "Mom! I've searched everywhere for my ring, how could you hide it from me?"

"Calm down," Dad placed a hand on my shoulder and handed me one of the gifts, "we just wanted this to be a surprised."

My ring was in the black box. It originally belonged to Grandpa; it was silver with a beautiful crafted hawk on it. The hawk's wings were extended out with its feathers large and sharply detailed. The beck was faced forward while small pieces of tiger's eye were placed to represent the eyes. Its tail was flat and its claws were curled into the tail.

"We decided to get the design re-crafted, seeing that it faded through the years," Dad explained, "but mostly we had it re-sized."

I slid it on my middle finger, "Wow, it fits," I grinned and hugged him. "Thanks Dad," then I quickly ran over to Mom and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hold on there's still one more," Dad held out the last box.

I opened it and pulled out silver chain necklace with a small simple cut aquamarine pendent attached to it. Mom came from behind and wrapped it around my neck, "when I first laid eyes on this stone it reminded me of your eyes. Those stunning, sweet blue eyes," she turned me around to face her. "They were the first thing I fell in love with the moment I met you."

I looked away, bashful, "Mom."

"Oh don't 'Mom' me," she brushed a lock of my hair over my ear, "I'm proud of you and whatever happens, you'll always have us."

I smiled and wrapped her in a tight hug, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered in my hair.

After a moment of silence Blair speaks up, "See this is why you guys should have gone last. I mean how can we present our gift after all that emotional feels."

I giggled, "She's got a point. You guys kinda stole the show." I sat back in my seat, "Whatcha got?"

Blair nodded to Blake and he ran back to the living room. "This is from us and G-Ma," she proclaimed.

Blake came back with a carryon bag and a rolling luggage. Everyone rushed to clear the table, so we could set the baggage on it. The roller was designed as an old fashion trunk; like something a traveler would have in the eighteen hundreds. The main color was a dark shade of tan while the straps were brown. It had gold colored clips, but still had a modern zipper and wheels. The carryon was in the same shade and style as the roller.

I grinned, "Are we going on a trip?"

Everyone shared nervous glances with one another till Johnny said, "maybe."

Before I could question their looks, Blair cuts in. "Look at the strap," she exclaimed and pushed the shoulder strap of the carryon into my face.

There were animals crafted into the leather. Each animal was detailed and imprinted with realistic features. They ran together across the strap, beginning with a hawk and ending with a mouse. "Oh cool. Grandma did you design this?"

She shook her head, "I just gave the materials, Blair drew it on paper and Blake crafted it on the leather."

I passed it around for everyone to see. Celine was in awe and Johnny whistled, "This is amazing." Then his eyes lit up, "hey you guys put a Great Dane on it."

Melissa took a look, "and a hummingbird."

"There's a deer," Dad grinned.

"We decided to use our family's spirit animals in the design," Blake proclaimed.

"Yup," Blair continued, "It starts off with G-Pa's hawk and G-Ma's butterfly, then it to Grandpa's deer-"

"A deer," Sanjay turns to Dad, "I figured your animal was a wolf."

Dad lifted a brow, "why do you say that?"

"You always wear that wolf charm around your neck."

"Ah, well this wolf charm is to honor a good friend of mine, he died when we were young and he was always like a brother to me," Dad explained.

"It's like me when I wear Grandpa's ring," I added.

"Is that what Natives do?" he asked in all due respect.

Dad shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, but it's what we do."

"Can I continue please," Blair asked, annoyed.

Dad patted her head, "sorry Blair, yes you may."

"After the deer, we have Grandma's cougar-"

Johnny snorted, "Mom you're a cougar?"

She shook her head, "last I checked your father was older than me."

"No Grandma, the cougar is your spirit animal," said Blair.

"Cougar represents leadership, strength, balance and cleverness," Blake proclaimed.

Mom nodded, liking the idea and Blair moved on. "Then we have the hummingbird for Mom and the robin for Dad."

"Robin?" Sanjay questioned.

"It represents luck, hope, clarity and the strength to move forward," his son answered.

Blair continued, "Then there's Uncle Johnny's Great Dane and Aunt Celine's rabbit."

"I always did like bunnies," Celine added.

"Then we have Aunt Amy's bear-"

I raised my hand, "I'm a nation. I don't think I have a spirit animal."

"Well," Blair shrugged her shoulders, "G-Pa always called you Amy-bear, we just figured."

"And don't you remember, you went to live with them for a few days," Johnny smirked.

I made a face as Blair finished, "Then finally we have Blake's owl, my fox and Raiden's mouse."

We all turned to the baby in the high chair, who was still being fed green squash from a jar.

"Isn't a little early to tell," Celine asked, "he is just a baby and you are just basing this off on personalities."

Blake shook his head and stared at her with unwavering eyes. "I know his spirit animal is a mouse, like I know your spirit animal is a rabbit. I'm never wrong about this."

Johnny sighed and placed an arm around his wife, "Honey, Blake is special. I'm sure you can see that some things in this world are a pretty bizarre." He pointed at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Blake has the Sight," Grandma followed, "he can see aura and be able to tell which people are human or nation."

"He also sees dead people," he made a scary voice.

"Johnny," Melissa gave a warning.

"I see spirits, if they happen to be human, then I guess that would make them dead." Blake shrugged his shoulders, like it was nothing.

Celine's eyebrows rose, "I've certainly joined a strange family."

"Hell, at least you know you'll never get bored," I grinned.

* * *

Later on I drove downtown to meet with my two best friends, Michel Russo and Jamie Chen at The Dragonfly. I spotted Michel combing through his brown curls with his fingers as he sat at a table by the cafe's window. He was wearing white knee length shorts and a purple t-shirt that brought out his green eyes. Jamie wore a loose light pink blouse tucked into a floral pattern skirt. Her silky black hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her dark almond shaped eyes were outlined with pink eyeliner.

Once I walked in they greeted me with smiles and hugs. We sat around the table as Noah brought over a plate of chocolate chip cookies, "here you guys go," he sat the plate. "The usually?" he asked.

We nodded and he walked back to the cashier. When he was out of hearing distance, Jamie turned to me, "hey didn't that guy give you his number?"

I knitted my brows in confusion, "I don't think so."

"Yeah he did," Michel proclaimed, "he gave it to you when you met Arthur and them here."

I slapped my forehead, "Oh right."

"You never called him did you," Jamie said in a monotone.

"Yeah," I shrugged my shoulders, "I kinda forgot."

Michel shook his head, "so cold, so cold."

"It doesn't matter any way," Jamie quickly added, "you have Heracles to worry about."

"And don't forget about Toris," he said.

I rolled my eyes; ever since I told them of my time in Austria they began to pick which nations would be my perfect boyfriend. They've made teams, kept points and even wrote short stories about it.

"Hey did you finish reading my latest story?" Michel asked Jamie.

"Yeah," she pulled out a journal from her pink purse, "I loved your sex scene. It was so sweet but yet so passionate."

Noah walked in at that moment; he gave us curious glances and sat down our drinks, a glass of cold milk for me, ice coffee for Jamie and a double chocolate cappuccino for Michel. He gave me a nod as a greeting and speed walked away. I had a half of mind to scream, _wait! Take me with you!_

I ignored my friends as they discussed the most recent Amy/Toris one-shot by Michel. I began to nibble on a cookie as my mind turned to a question that's been eating at me ever since I left the house. The whole situation of my band new luggage set and how everyone grew nervous by the mention of a trip. _They must be hiding something_.

"Hello, earth to Amy," Jamie's voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Huh?"

Michel lifted up colorful bags, "we have gifts!"

Jamie gave me a card, "but open the card first."

The birthday card was an average hallmark but inside was an international hundred dollar gift card. I smiled, "thanks guys, but I don't think I need an international card."

"Well, you never know," Michel added, "besides it uses all currencies, so no matter where you go, you got the cash."

I nodded and opened one of the bags. I removed the white tissue paper and found a green graphic tee that said 'Team Heracles' with a fierce golden lion under the words. I looked at the shirt and then at Jamie. "Really."

"What? It's adorable," she unbuttoned her blouse to display the same tee. "I got one made for me too, but it's a tank."

I set the shirt down and turned to Michel, "what do you got?"

"I have something you're absolutely going to love," he grinned.

"I don't believe you," I proclaimed but I still opened the gift. It was a blue graphic tee with 'Team Toris' written on the front and a gray and silver wolf howling underneath. "And I was right," I sighed.

Michel then took off his shirt; he was wearing the same Team Toris tee. "It's all about Team Toris!"

"It's official I'm gonna burn these," I held up the shirts.

"No," they both pleaded.

"Come on, every time you wear one of the shirts, one of us gets five points," Michel exclaimed.

"One of the many reasons why I should burn them," I said.

Jamie sighed re-buttoning up her blouse, "come on Amy, can't you take a joke?"

"Yes, but this is going too far," I shook the shirts at them.

"No, too far is when we start recruiting members and making tumblr accounts dedicated to our shipping pair," Michel proclaimed dramatically.

I sighed; I've learned there was no use in fighting them about this. "Just so you know I'm never going to wear these."

Neither of them said anything, only smiled at one another. Then they turned back to me with the same joyful grins on their faces. "We have good news," said Michel as slipped back on his purple shirt.

"What?"

They each held out a letter and I quickly scanned through them. They were acceptance letters from Rhode Island School of Design and Juilliard. I stared at the letters in astonishment, "when did these come in?"

Jamie mental counted off her fingers, "I think May."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Michel shrugged his shoulders, "you had a lot to deal with. A death of a family member, finding out you're a nation, discovering new relatives and fighting off advances from other countries. We figured college was the last thing on your mind."

I sighed, "but still-"

"Just leave it be, we still got our summer together." Jamie smiled, "so what's the plan?"

She was right, there was no use thinking about college or the fact that they will be moving across the country for school. I didn't even know if I was going to college. Will I simply start working as nation? If so, what exactly am I supposed to do? Go to meetings and talk about what's wrong with everything in the world. Then fight about it for hours and get nothing done in the end.

_Yup, that's some career._

But I didn't have to think about that just yet.

The summer was mine and I planned to spend every day as I pleased.

"We're going to the rec center; my co-workers are holding a small party in my honor."

Morgan Hills Reaction Center stood in the center of town. The brick building was one story with a large gym, media room, a workout station, a kitchen and six extra rooms for classes. The soccer field was on the right while the playground was on the left; the pool was around back. During the six months when the community of Summerland had to live in one building together after the Quake of 2014. The soccer field became a crop field and the pool was drained and used for storage. Most of the families lived indoors, some outside in tents, and the injured were moved to the Emerald Bed & Breakfast. Half of the hospital was destroyed and any buildings left with minor damages were used for the sick and injured. Before the Quake, the rec center was called Bradfield, but it was renamed for Morgan Hills. He was the first to take action and assign jobs for everyone. He was currently our mayor.

I parked my blue jeep in front and speed walked to the doors. Michel and Jamie were right behind. We were met with Kurtis Watterson, Gabriel Perez, Isha Smith and Henry Anderson at the resources desk.

"Hey Amy, happy birthday," Kurtis greeted me a fist bump. He was a tall, skinny guy with dark black skin and a clean shaved head.

Gabriel gave me a hug, "glad you can make it." He was light skinned with hazel eyes and loved to wear graphic baseball caps.

"The kids are so excited," Isha was a light dark skinned girl with jaw length black hair. She and the rest of us were around the same age, I was the youngest though, so they made it a big deal that I was now legal.

Henry was a middle aged man with graying brown hair and dark eyes. He was also my boss and ran the rec center. "They're waiting at the gym for ya, so you better head over."

I grinned, "Thanks guys," we all shared a group hug.

Once we entered the gray and white colored gym, we were greeted by children of all ages with a hardy, "Happy birthday Miss Amy!"

I laughed as a group of small children tackled me into a hug. I was day camp counselor for the summer and I was instructed to teach dance. Isha was the arts and crafts miracle worker, Kurtis also taught dance and worked out the sports activities with Gabriel.

I was dragged to the center of the gym and Kurtis turned up the stereo. Miley Cyrus's 'Party in the USA' played and I groaned, "Why?" I stared daggers at Michel and Jamie; they had to be behind this.

Their evil smiles only proved my theory. But the kids clapped and cheered for me to dance. I turned to face the front, shook my hips to the beat and began a line dance. My friends and co-workers quickly joined me along with the kids. Our little party only lasted for two hours, but dear lord, it felt like five minutes.

"Bye everyone!" I waved both of my hands in the air as I was pulled back to my jeep. "I'll see you all on Monday!"

"Come on, we gotta go," Michel shoved me into the passenger seat as he took the wheel.

We arrived after three and we had to park a block away from the Melissa's beach house. "Where did all these cars come from?" I asked. "I mean we only invited family and close friends."

We walked up to the house and we went around back. I instantly came to halt. I clutched my fists to my sides and my eyes widened. I was pretty sure Jamie and Michel could see my shoulders shaking. Large pieces of plastic tile were pressed down on the ground to represent a dance floor and tables were set up around the yard. A long table was used as a buffet and a DJ turn table stood with the stereo system next to the tile floor. There was even a massive white screen set up in front of the dance floor.

But that's not the reason why I froze in place.

Feliciano Vargas the nation of Italy was the first to see me. His brown curl bounced with every step and his light auburn eyes shined as he came running to me. "Amy," he exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around my neck and planted a kiss on both of my cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I took a step back.

"We came to celebrate your birthday," Ludwig Beilschmidt the nation of Germany proclaimed. He wore a causal suit and his blond hair was slicked back, like always. Kiku Honda a.k.a Japan stood right next to him. He bowed like a proper Japanese man and gave me congratulations for my birthday.

I scanned the area. There was Yao Wang (China) chatting with Sanjay and Melissa. The other Asian nations, such as Li Chun (Hong Kong), Mei Xiao (Taiwan) and Kim Lan (Vietnam) were hanging around with Mom's older brother, Alejandro Kama and his wife, Emily Kama. Yong Soo Im (South Korea), Klahan Hyusen (Thailand) and Akram Verma (India) were playing with my cousin's kids. Other nations soon joined, such as the Nordics, Peter Kirkland (Sealand) and Raivis Galante (Latvia).

Lovino Vargas (Southern Italy), Antonio Fernandez Carriedo (Spain), and Bella and Govert Vermeulen (Belgium and Netherlands) stood together with Mom and Dad. Heracles Karpusi (Greece), Sadiq Adnan (Turkey) and Gupta Muhammad Hassan (Egypt) were talking with Johnny and Celine. I then caught Grandma and Mister James Reed sitting with Natalia Arlovskaya (Belarus) and Irunya Moroz (Ukraine). My eyes began to strain, there were too many to keep count. My best guess was that all the nations were here.

I was stunned, I was not expecting this. I figured the nations would send cards or something, but to show up at my sister's house for a party; while my extended family from Texas were here and had no idea that I was a country. I'm sure the nations wouldn't say anything. I mean they want to keep the number of humans that knew of me down to a minimum. But still, this was a _huge_ invasion on my personal life.

At that thought, I slapped my forehead. _You really thought they would respect your boundaries_, my inner voice jeered. I mental groaned and looked up to Feliciano, Ludwig and Kiku, "Listen guys I'm . . . surprised that all of you came. Just promise me you'll be on your best behavior."

Ludwig crossed his arms, "You do not need to tell us this. We are not children."

"Pasta!" Feliciano lost interest in our conversation and ran over to the buffet.

"He has an attention span of a three old," I said in a sarcastic tone, "yes, clearly none of you need to be reminded." I walked away before he could say anything. Michel and Jamie said quick apologies and rushed after me.

"I have to admit," Michel said, "you're handling this better than I thought."

"Where's Arthur?" I demanded.

"Don't look at us," he held his hands up in surrender, "we had no idea that _all_ the nations would show up."

"Uh-huh," I searched the crowd and spotted a mop of messy blond hair, green eyes and brushy eyebrows. I took big steps as I called out, "Arthur."

He turned, along with Francis and Matthew. I noticed quickly that Kumajirou, Matthew's small, talking polar bear wasn't with him. Most likely Matthew had left him back in his hotel room. I stood in front of them with my arms crossed, "Why are the nations here?"

"We don't get a 'hello' before an interrogation," Arthur asked sarcastically.

"Do you want me to smack you," I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ami," Francis sighed dramatically, "I thought we got over all these resentment issues."

"That's not it. Just answer my question."

Matthew cuts in, "It's your eighteenth birthday. The nations see that as a stepping stone towards being an official nation."

"Did my parents know about this?" I asked.

"We don't know, but it seems they prepared enough food for everyone," Arthur commented.

"I'll take that as a yes." I looked at all three of them, "Last question, is Ivan here?"

"No, and he would be a fool to show up," he proclaimed.

My shoulders relaxed. "Okay, that makes me feel a little better."

"So the nations are just here to party," Michel asked.

Francis smiled, "yes."

"Alright," he grinned, "It's time to get this party started. I'm gonna go talk to Johnny, see if he'll get some tunes on."

"I'll go with you," Jamie quickly ran after him.

"By the way Ami," Francis held out his arms, "happy birthday."

I gave a smile and hugged him tight, "thanks it's good to see you guys." I then moved on to Matthew and Arthur, giving them each long overdue hugs.

"Here," Arthur gave me an envelope, "congratulations."

"These are from us," Francis also handed me two envelopes.

I opened each card, all three contained money; but they were of foreign currency. British pounds from Arthur, Euros from Francis and Canadian dollars from Matthew; I lifted a brow in wonder but I was still polite. "Thanks guys."

"Amy!" my cousin, Sofia Garcia waved me over. I said my goodbyes to the countries and walked over to my extended family. My three older cousins, Sofia, Mia Herrera, and Josefina Johnson sucked me into a group hug.

"Oh you grew your hair out!" Mia smiled. Her almond shaped dark eyes gleamed as she twirled her fingers into my hair. A pink Hawaiian flower was pinned to her dirty blond locks and those strands were then pulled into a loose French braid over her shoulder.

"We can play with it again," Josefina giggled. Her dark hair was curled and had a deep red Hawaiian flower pinned in it. Her skin was a natural tan while her older sisters both took on Aunt Emily's fair skin.

"Like we always did when you were little," Sofia smirked.

I allowed them to dote on me as they lead me around the yard. I was greeted with hugs and kisses by family and friends. We were soon met with my tutors, Neill Shaw and Christopher and Laura Walker.

"Well look it here, it's our little lass, finally an adult," Neill sighed, his blond bangs fell over his dark eyes. "I still remember the day I met you. You were five and eating paste."

"I did that once," I hissed at him.

"That's not what Aunt Jessica said," Mia giggled.

"Don't you start," I exclaimed.

"Still," Christopher proclaimed, his British accent ringed with each word. "It's a bloody miracle you were able to graduate from Nightingale."

His wife, Laura gave him a soft slap on his arm. "Chris, be nice," her Belgian accent had faded but she still carried her exotic red hair and onyx eyes. "She's a smart girl; I didn't doubt her for a second."

I grinned and held Laura in a tight squeeze, "You were always my favorite."

"Hey," both Neill and Christopher carried wounded looks as my cousins laughed.

I moved on to my grandparents from my mother's side, Makani and Jessamine Kama. Also known to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren as Kupunakane and Kupunawahine; it means grandfather and grandmother in Hawaiian.

Kupunakane's hair was more gray than black but it was still long in its low ponytail. His skin was a natural dark tan, but he seemed to be darker, most likely he's been out surfing.

Kupunawahine was a shade lighter, but carried the same gray hair and dark eyes. She lit up like a Christmas tree the moment she saw me. "_Amy, mi pequeña bonita_," she used her native tongue to greet me. Mostly she just said that I was her little beautiful.

I grinned, wrapped my arms around her and answered her in Spanish. "Hello Kupunawahine how was the plane ride?"

She waved her hand in the air, "delayed planes, rude people and lousy service." She shook her head and switched to English. "We're taking a boat back home, you hear me," she said to Kupunakane.

"Yes dear," he rolled his dark almond shaped eyes and hugged me. "How's my little _mo`opuna_? Are you up for some surfing?"

I laughed, "Kupunakane it's been years since I've surfed."

"It's like riding a bike, you never forget."

"I don't have a surfboard."

He grinned, "Come with me."

I followed him and Kupunawahine to the shore where two colored surfboards were waiting. One was a tan colored hybrid with black tribal symbols designed over the corners. It was worn and the paint had faded; that one belonged to Kupunakane. The other was a blue shortboard with graphic waves drawn on the front.

"No way," I ran to the board, "I can't believe it, you got me a board!" I gave him a crushing hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," I repeated the phase several times.

"Thank me by catching a wave," he took off his shirt and grabbed his board. "Let's go!"

"Hell yeah!" I threw off my shoes, shorts and shirt, lifted up the board and ran after him.

"Uh," Sofia spoke up, "Kupunawahine shouldn't you say something? He could get hurt."

"I know, but he's stubborn," she shook her head.

"Aren't we all?" Josefina's comment earned her a few honest laughs.

"Go Amy!" Mia cried out, "Show that ocean who's boss!"

"Amy," Kupunawahine cried out after us, "watch out for him! He forgets he's eighty-five!"

He laughed, "I'm not _nearly_ that old, woman!"

I giggled and tossed myself on top of my new board into the clear ocean. We stroked with our arms to open waters. I started out with small waves, focusing on regaining my balance on the board. I was nine when Kupunakane taught me how to surf, it wasn't easy. I'd fallen off on my fish board more times than I could count, but Kupunakane refused for me to quit. It took me a good month before I was able to catch a decent wave but it was worth it.

Fortunately it didn't take me that long to regain my skills. Don't get me wrong, I was still pretty rusty but I was able to keep up with my pro surfer grandfather.

After my last wave, Mom and Kupunawahine were yelling for me to return to shore. Once I was on the sand I slipped on my shorts and left my button down shirt open. I was hopping on one foot as I tried to get my sandals on.

"What's up?" I asked.

"We're about to bring out the cake, but before that we're gonna show a video," Mom answered.

"A video, oh no," I whined.

Mom gave me a look, "don't give me that tone, you're among family."

"The nations are here," I hissed in whisper.

"You need to learn how to laugh at yourself," Kupunawahine added.

I gave a soft groan as they walked back to the party. Kupunakane came up from behind and slapped his hand on my shoulder. "That's what she says, but when the jokes are about her," he shook his head and squeezed my shoulder. "She becomes a bit of a witch."

"I heard that," she exclaimed and we laughed.

Mom said that this whole video presentation would start in the next twenty minutes, so she pretty much told me not to wonder off. "I mean it, no running off towards the beach, no hiding. Stay here."

"Yes, yes," I nodded, it was best to keep my mouth shut and agree with her when she's like this. Once she was out of sight, I turned around and snatched a hot dog from the buffet table. My stomach was growling and I needed something to hold me over till cake time. I smeared on ketchup and mustard and stuffed half of it into my mouth.

"Amy," a voice sang as a hand turned me around. Feliks Łukasiewicz (Poland) stood before me, his bright blond hair was jaw length and his green eyes were brilliant emerald. His smile disappeared the moment he saw my face half stuffed with a hot dog. "I see you have the same table manners as your father."

I bit down and swallowed it whole, "yeah well, I was hungry, okay." I said to my defense.

"Please don't take what Feliks says to heart," Toris Laurinaitis (Lithuania) stood next to him. "Besides Alfred had," he took a moment, "decent table manners."

I rolled my eyes and looked them over. Feliks wore a pink t-shirt with floral designs around the collar and cuffs. His jeans were dark and skin tight and his sneakers were white, purple and pink. Toris wore a simple white button down shirt, loose khakis, sandals and a round rim fedora styled brown hat, with a gold star stitched at the side. I pointed at him, "I'm guessing he made you wear that hat."

"Hey," Feliks exclaimed, "I'll have you know I have incredible taste in fashion." He then pointed to Toris, "If I had left it to him, he would be wearing some ridiculous baseball cap."

Toris blushed in embarrassment, "I only wanted to protect my face from the sun."

"They invented sunscreen for a reason," Feliks proclaimed, "You of all people should know the _possibilities_ that could come with having sunscreen." He wiggled his eyebrows and Toris turned a deeper shade of red.

"Should I leave you two alone?" I playfully bantered.

"No!" Toris exclaimed, "It's not like that."

"Uh-huh, sure," I smirked.

"There she is!" a young voice cried out, "charge!"

I knew that voice, "Crap! Hold this," I shoved my hot dog into Toris's hand and in the next second I was tackled to the ground by my second cousins and the twins.

"Target has been captured!" Roman Herrera cried. His slim tanned arms were wrapped around my waist as his legs pressed down on mine. I noticed that his hair had gotten longer, almost reaching his shoulders. He had the same eyes and hair as his mother Mia, but his shade of blond was lighter.

"You couldn't hide from us for long Aunt Amy." Alyce Garcia grinned mischievously, making her hazel eyes shine. Her fair skin was turning red, most likely she forgot to wear sunscreen. Her dirty blond hair was curled and bounced around her shoulders.

"Aunt Amy, Aunt Amy, Mister Yong Soo taught me how to say 'happy birthday' in Korean!" Valencia Garcia exclaimed. She was Alyce's younger sister by two years but they only shared their mother's soft features. Valencia was the darker version of Alyce, with dark hair and eyes and natural tan skin.

"I know how to say it Swedish!" Gael Garcia proclaimed proudly. He was the youngest of Sofia's children. He had almond shaped dark eyes, black hair and fair skin. "That totally beats Korean!"

"We know how to say it in Hindi," Blake and Blair said in sync.

"Mister Raivis told me how to say 'happy birthday' in his language," Lali Herrera was the youngest of the group. She had long dark hair, fair skin and beautiful green eyes, which she got from her grandmother on her father's side. She turned to Raivis, who was standing off to the side with Peter and the Nordics. "What was you're language again?" she asked with her head tilted to the side.

"Oh, Latvian," he answered.

"Right," she nodded and turned to face me, "_Daaaaaa-udz lai-mes dzzzz,_" she struggled and her lip queried. She faced Raivis, "What was it again, I forgot."

"_Daudz laimes dzimšanas dienā,_" he said softly.

"_Daaa-uudz laaai-mes dziii-mša-nas die-nā,_" she looked at him, seeking approval.

Even though she butchered the phase, I didn't think Raivis had the heart to criticize a five-year-old. He smiled, "perfect."

She beamed and bounced on top of the dog pile, "Auntie Amy! I can speak Latvian, I can speak Latvian!" she said excitedly.

Every bounce she did caused the vibrations from the other kids to ram into my mid-section. I took a shaky breath, "That's nice Lali, I'm proud of you." I tried to crawl out of the dog pile but the kids held me in place.

"You're not getting away!" Roman squeezed.

"We still need to give you your birthday licks," Gael exclaimed.

"Johnny and Melissa already beat you to it," I smirked.

"Birthday licks," Peter raised a brow in question.

Valencia answered, "Every year on our birthdays, our family members hold us down and spank us on our butts. They keep spanking till they reach the number of age we have turned, it's mostly for the kids."

"That's why we need to get Aunt Amy," Alyce added, "this is the last year she'll get birthday licks."

"Then turn her around," Mikkel Densen (Denmark) rubbed his hands together, "I'll be happy to lend a hand."

"No, no," I gasped weakly; then an idea came to me. "Ribs . . .crushing . . . my lungs." I took another dramatic gasp, "I think. . . I see the light." I raised my hand in the air, "Grandpa. . .is that you?"

"What?!" Lali cried out in horror.

"Don't go into the light!" Blair exclaimed.

"Goodbye everyone," I whispered. "Remember me. . . as I was," with my final words, I dropped my hand, turned my head to the side and closed my eyes, all in a exaggerated sigh.

"No!" Alyce played along and told the others to get off.

The kids gathered around me as Gael shook me by the shoulders. "Aunt Amy! Wake up! Speak to us!"

I waited for another second till I snapped to attention and grabbed Gael. He yelped as I wrapped my arms around him. "You are now in the clutches of. . ." I paused, "The Tickle Monster!" I roamed my hands over his mid-section and he howled in laughter.

The children cried out in joy and scattered, hiding themselves among the nations. I gently placed Gael to the side and rose to my feet. "You can run but you can't hide!" I raised my arms over my head and screamed like a banshee. Alyce hid behind Feliks and Toris, "Come out, come out Alyce," I taunted her with a creepy voice.

She gave a playful scream and ran behind the Nordics. I chased after her as the other kids ran in various directions. I picked different routes so I'd have the chance to chase each kid. Valencia ducked behind Yong Soo and Klahan and I dived between them. I roared and she dashed to Roman, who was hiding behind Lukas Bondevik (Norway) and Erik Steilsson (Iceland).

Valencia stood behind Erik as Roman peeked behind Lukas. The nations shared curious glances with them and the children smiled. They were hesitant to respond but they too smiled back.

I spun in place and leaped after Blake as he tucked himself behind Akram. He faked going left and ran to his right. Then Lali came into my line of sight and I followed her to Peter and Raivis. "Mister Raivis!" She called out, "help me!" she hid behind his legs.

"Well Raivis," I grinned, "what are you gonna do?"

His violet eyes glanced to Lali and back at me. He then swiftly snatches a stick from the ground and wields it against me. Peter grinned and grabbed another stick, "back away Tickle Monster, Lady Lali is under our protection!"

Their faces were so serious, I couldn't help but giggle, "Okay, okay." I shook out my shoulders and exclaimed in a fierce tone. "You can't defeat me!"

Mikkel snorted, "Maybe they can't," I turned to face him, Yong Soo and the other Nordics, who were all wielding thick sticks. "But we can!"

Akram and Klahan stood off to side, watching with amused smiles on their faces. The children also joined the nations with their own sticks. I was surrounded.

"Mister Berwald! Mister Berwald!" Gael jumped up and down, "Pick me up! Pick me up!"

Berwald Oxenstierna (Sweden) nodded and lifted Gael over his head. Gael sat around his neck, with his legs dangling over Berwald's shoulders. He held up his stick to the sky, "I am a giant!" Berwald didn't seemed affected by Gael's antics, he almost looked happy to have crazy hyperactive kid on his shoulders.

Tino Väinämöinen (Finland) smiled up at Berwald and Gael as Mikkel shouted, "Attack!"

_Shit! _

I sprinted across the yard as they chased after me with battle cries and sticks waving in the air. I ducked and dodged from their jabs as I hopped from one foot to the next. My second cousins were grinning from ear to ear as they ran along with the nations. They seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. The countries' blows on me were gentle, but they made sure to add sound effects.

"Slash!" Mikkel tapped me on my arm with his stick, "I just cut off your arm!"

I grabbed my arm and gave a fake cry, "Ahhhhh! Damn you, Dane!"

"Such language in front of children," Tino ts-tsked with his finger and tapped me on the head with his stick. "Naughty, naughty."

I hissed like a cat as Lukas came in with Roman at his side. "Surrender Tickle Monster," Lukas demanded.

I screamed, "Never!"

"This is taking too long," Feliks proclaimed and grabbed a stick, "I evoke the Poland rule!"

I knitted my brows together in confusion, "what's the Poland rule?"

He answered with a hard whack to my face.

I cried out in a silent moan and fell to my knees, clutching my forehead with my hands.

"I win!" he grinned.

"Feliks that was too hard!" Toris said in a whiny tone.

"What? She can handle it."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. These past two months I've been working on keeping my temper in check, so I couldn't help but think this was a test from the universe. I mentally counted to twenty and rose to my feet, "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Don't worry Amy, we'll avenge you!" Mikkel proclaimed.

Erik turned to him, "why would we avenge her? She was the monster."

"Things have changed, Feliks is now the enemy."

"But he was our hero!" Alyce added and walked to stand next to Feliks, "I'll fight along with him!"

Alliances were made; Alyce, Lukas, Erik, Blair, Valencia, Roman and Raivis stood on the side of Feliks. Tino, Berwald, Gael, Blake, Mikkel, Yong Soo and Peter fought for me. Lali wanted to fight with Raivis but he asked her politely to stay with Akram and Klahan.

"Hold it!" I ordered, "How about," I snatched Roman's soccer ball from a nearby table. "You guys settle this out with game of football."

"Aunt Amy that's a soccer ball," Roman proclaimed.

"I know but everyone around the world calls it a football. I figured these guys wouldn't understand if I said soccer."

"We know what soccer is," Lukas crossed his arms.

I nodded, "okay then. Now put down the sticks and play with the ball," I tossed it over to Roman.

"But the sticks are more fun," Gael pouted.

"They are now, till someone gets hurt. Now all of you put the sticks down," I said with all the authority I possessed.

Everyone glanced at one another curiously but they tossed aside their sticks into a pile. The nations surrendered first it was actually the kids that took their sweet time.

"Do you want me call your mothers?" I threatened.

Their eyes widened and they threw their sticks into the pile.

I smirked, "good, now go off and play."

Mikkel and Lukas grabbed four chairs, putting two chairs at each side of their section of the yard to represent the goals. More members were soon added into the game; Lali joined in with Raivis and Feliks while Akram and Klahan joined Mikkel's team. Toris and I watched from the side lines as Roman kicked the ball in the air, signifying the start of their game.

I observed with a critical eye, making sure that the nations didn't harm my kids in any way. But no one cried out in foul play, instead everyone was laughing. Cheering each other on and allowing the kids to make some goals. I wasn't sure if the nations played sports, but I was certain that they were holding themselves back for the kids.

"I haven't seen them have this much fun in quite a while," Toris said with a peaceful smile on his face.

I nodded, remaining silent. Erik had stolen the ball from Akram and was running towards the goal. I caught Lali waving her arms in the air, asking for the ball. Erik kicked it over and she immediately started jogging . . . to her team's goal.

"Lali! That's the wrong way!" Roman called out.

But she didn't hear him. Instead she placed all her attention on her foot work, the ball and the goal. Which was being guarded by Raivis; I already knew how this was going to end.

I looked to the goalie. He was torn between protecting his goal, or sparing the feelings of a little girl. In the end, he moved to guard his right even though it was plain as day that Lali was aiming for his left. She scored the goal and a big grin spread from ear to ear on her face. "I did it! I did it! I did it!"

Raivis sighed but patted her head, "yes you certainly did. Good job Lali," he smiled.

"_Good job?!_" Feliks exclaimed, "She kicked ball into the wrong-" Lukas cut him off by pressing a hand over his mouth.

"Lali," Raivis kneeled before her, "next time, make sure to kick the ball into the other goal, okay?"

She nodded and ran back into the field. Raivis scooped up the ball and threw it in the air, the game had resumed. As I watched, my mind rewound back to Alfred's letter. He was the reason why the government hid me away and allowed a human family to raise me. All because Alfred believed it was best. He was right of course, but he also knew that one day I would take his place. He had mentioned that the nations were good people, but there was darkness in them.

I scanned the area; all of the countries were talking, dancing, playing and laughing with my family and friends. They seemed so normal at that moment, I could almost forget that they're centuries old. But I must remember Alfred's warning. Their darkness could overwhelm me. Yet, there were wishes he had for me. How he hoped that when I was older I would be just as beautiful on the inside as I was on the out. And, that I would give some of the happiness that he bestowed on me to them.

I racked my hands through my hair in frustration. The behavior that I displayed earlier to Feliciano and Ludwig was definitely not beautiful in any way. Nor was I willing to share my birthday celebrations with the countries. I wanted only my family and friends to be with me on my special day. I wouldn't mind Arthur, Francis and Matthew to have been added, but I desired for this day to belong to _Amy_ not _America_.

Was that selfish of me?

"Are you okay?" Toris asked concerned.

His voice snapped me out of my train of thought. I needed to come up with a quick excuse. "Yeah, it's just my forehead." I touched the sore spot between my eyes, "is it noticeable?"

His eyes widened, taking on the shade of forest green. "No."

"You hesitated."

"Uh, well," his color changing eyes looked away till he said. "Oh, here's your hot dog."

"You think you can distract me with food?" I tried to sound confident but my stomach had a different idea. It growled angrily, the sound was strong enough to easily be heard by him. I blushed, "give me that," I hissed and snatched it from his hand.

He chuckled, "do you want another one?"

Before I could bite into my hot dog or even answer his question. Josefina grabbed my arm "Amy, we're ready!" She glanced at my dog, snatched it and set it on an empty table, "come on, we need to go."

"But my hot dog!" I cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Josefina led me to an empty chair and sat me in front of the crowd that was seated around the white screen. She touched my forehead, "what happen?"

"The Poland rule," I said in monotone.

"What's that?"

"Don't ask."

The dance floor was cleared; mostly to make sure no one was blocking the video projector and to give Michel and Jamie the stage they so loved.

"Welcome everyone to Amy Felicita Hawkfeather's eighteenth birthday party!" Michel announced and everyone clapped and cheered.

Once the audience settled Jamie continued, "Now, you may be wondering, how could we possibly celebrate this most spectacular day?"

Michel didn't wait for anyone to answer. "It's actually quite simple, the only way we can truly celebrate this glorious day, is with a tribute video dedicated to Amy's entire life!"

"They can't be serious," I mumbled.

"Roll the clip!" they exclaimed in sync.

The first video that was displayed on the screen was a picture show mixed with clips from my childhood. Bruno Mars's song 'Just the Way You Are' played in the background as photos of me as baby engulfed the screen. The pictures didn't have an order, it was random. One moment it would be photo from when I was nine in Hawaii. Next it would be me as a two-year-old helping Dad build a sand castle.

Pictures of me dressed in bright colored dresses with matching sun hats scattered over the screen. Along with clips of me riding a horse for the first time when I was five. Photographs of me kicking in a goal at one of my every first soccer games; followed by images of my family's camping trips at Toro Canyon Park. Photos of my cousins, siblings and I came next; Sofia, Mia and Josefina as teenagers braiding, curling and straightening my blond locks. Melissa and I having girl nights in the living room, eating popcorn, watching chick flicks and painting our toe nails different colors. Johnny showing me how to dance to Michel Jackson's 'Thriller' and dressing up as horror movie serial killers for Halloween.

The video moves on to my tutors; Christopher drilling me in geography. He actually brought in a large world map and carried a ruler to point out countries to me. Laura rolled in next, instructing me on my French grammar. Next was not a photo, but a clip of Neill showing me how to make clay volcano erupt. Colored baking soda exploded into a sticky mess the moment I poured in the vinegar. I gave a girlishly scream as it splattered over me and Neill laughed, "It's baking soda and vinegar, it won't hurt ya."

The song was coming to its end and photos began to speed up, reveling moments I shared with family and friends. I was only able to catch a few. Michel and I sharing a massive bowl of pasta at his family's Italian restaurant; Jamie and I wearing matching red Chinese styled blouses for Chinese New Year. Then the last image was of me napping in Grandpa's arms.

The video continued with the song 'We Got the World' by Icona Pop playing in the background. This time, it only showed photographs and clips of my four years at Nightingale International Private School. Pictures of me with my hair cut to a boyish bob style and wearing the dark blue uniform with the raven crest on the breast pocket. Classmates from all over the world were in the photos along with me, but truthfully I only paid attention to the pictures of me and my closet friends.

Ella Chasse's smiling face blew up on the screen, her golden curls fell perfectly around her elbows and her makeup was flawless, like always. Daniela Aguero was right beside her in every photo. She was a beautiful Spanish girl with dark hair and eyes with amazing sewing skills. Their pictures were filled with clothes that they designed themselves. Usually I would end up being their model. I carried an irritated look through most of _those_ pictures.

Sam Collins followed; his hair the shade of dark blond and done up in dreads. He was usually behind the camera, being video or photograph but during rare times he would allow us the permission to hold his precious camera. Next came Heisuke Sato, a Japanese boy with shaggy black hair and preferred to dress in bright colors. He enjoyed going to the beach and taking hiking trips with me at the national parks. Lastly Dimitri Maier was a tall Russian young man with groomed, clean cut dark brown hair and bright onyx eyes. He was a talented gymnast so most clips and images of him were at his gymnastics meets.

The video continued; pictures of our years together were squeezed in a three minute slide show. Our trips to the mall, the board walk and the beach were displayed in a series of crazy affects. Video clips of us going shopping, goofing off in our classes and showing off our greatest dance moves, whenever they decided to join me on my free period. Short snapshots of our tribute video to _Glee_'s 'New York New York' rolled in next. The part where we were chased off by the police was also added, which earned us a few laughs from the audience.

After that, pictures of our camping trips, clips of me showing them how to ride my solid black Percheron horse Midnight and finally photos of our prom and graduation became the last images I saw as the music faded and the screen goes black.

Two seconds passed and the screen came back alive with Ella, Daniela, Sam, Heisuke and Dimitri. They were all standing together, short in front, which would be Ella, Daniela and Heisuke. Tall in the back: Sam and Dimitri. They all wore causal party clothes and their background looked familiar.

Ella was the first to speak, "Turn around!" she shouted in her native tongue of French.

I jumped to my feet and spun to find all of them waiting with huge happy grins on their faces. Ella, Daniela and Heisuke came running and wrapped their arms around me. Sam tackled into us, causing us to take step back on to the dance floor. Dimitri came from behind and wrapped his arms around Ella and Daniela. He squeezed and the girls were crushed into me. Michel and Jamie joined in, but their collision caused us to fall backwards.

I was laughing hysterically as we tried in failed attempts to climb off one another.

"Ella-chan, your elbow is jabbing into my ribs," Heisuke hissed painfully.

Daniela cried as she tried to crane her neck up, "My hair!"

"Michel," Sam exclaimed, "get off!"

"I'm king of the world!" Michel grinned, his ass sitting right on top of the pile.

"I think it's time we dethrone you!" Sam gathered his strength and pushed himself up, throwing Michel off.

"I personally like my position," Dimitri whispered low enough for only me to hear. I was lying on top of him, our chests were met and my nose was inches away from his lips. He slid a hand through my hair and brushed his thumb over my cheek. "You grew out your hair," he grinned, "I like it."

My face heated and I looked everywhere but his eyes. "Thanks," I shoved myself off and turned to help Ella up. "What are you guys doing here," I said in an thrilled tone.

"Where do I begin," she tapped her finger on her chin, "oh I know! Daniela and I have been accepted into the New York School of Interior Design!"

I beamed and hugged both her and Daniela, "congratulations!"

"We persuaded our parents to allow us to spend the rest of our summer here and then come August, fly to New York with Jamie," Daniela proclaimed.

Jamie jumped up and down excitedly, "We can get an apartment together!"

"And I'll be in Rhode Island, I can come visit!" Michel added.

"I have an announcement," Sam raised his hand, "I'm going to school here in California!"

Michel snorted, "Cali? Have you not been paying attention? Cali is out, New York is in."

"You're going to Rhode Island," Heisuke confirmed.

"Besides New York's overrated," Sam said.

"How did you get your parents to agree to it? I thought they wanted you to go to Oxford?" I questioned.

He crossed his arms, "I got a scholarship for the film school in LA, it also helped that they paid for my ticket."

"Way to go buddy," I slapped him on the back and turned to Dimitri and Heisuke. "How did you guys get your parents to agree to this?" They always planned to stay in their countries for school so I was curious on why they made the trip back to Summerland.

"We actually won a contest for a free round trip to any destination of our choice," Heisuke answered.

"It was a lucky coincidence that we won a week before your birthday," said Dimitri.

I knitted my brows, "yeah that's some coincidence."

"Where are you guys staying?" Jamie asked.

"At the Emerald," Ella answered, "We even have Madam Lope acting as our chaperone."

"_Mrs. Lope_, our homeroom teacher," my friends nodded as I searched the crowd for her plump figure. I found her standing off at the far side of the yard. Something tells me this wasn't a coincidence. I sneaked away from the group as my family came to greet my foreign friends.

I strolled over to the middle aged woman, "So they won a contest. You don't happen to know anything about this, do you?"

Shelly Lope smiled, "Are you implying that Isabella and I sent personal letters of recommendation to their choice of schools so they would be closer to the states. And designed a fake contest for Heisuke Sato and Dimitri Maier to travel with a round trip ticket, knowing perfectly well they would choose to visit you. You give us too much credit Amy."

I surprised her with a hug, "thank you Mrs. Lope."

She patted my head, "your welcome," she allowed the hug to last for another minute till she said. "Okay, that's enough. You can let go now."

I stepped back, grinning.

She sighed, "Run along now. You better enjoy them while you can."

"Wait, I just have one question, why?" I asked curiously.

She rolled her eyes, "Why? Well, there's your reason," she pointed to my friends. "Didn't you always wonder how your parents were able to pay for Nightingale? Simple, they didn't. The government did. The reason, the hope they had for you was _that_," she gestured to my friends again. "Isabella wanted you to meet, learn and communicate with people from all over the world, so that before you met the nations you wouldn't see them through American eyes, but through _their_ eyes. The citizens of those nations," she placed a hand on my shoulder. "She has great faith in you; I suggest you don't screw it up."

"Inspiring words teach," I remarked in a sarcastic tone.

She shook her head, "off with you, this supposed to be my break from you children."

I turned to walk in the opposite direction but stopped and asked, "Are you going to work for the government again?"

"Hell no, it turns out teenagers are easier to deal with than congressmen."

* * *

Matthew roamed the yard, making small talk with the other guests but also keeping a cautious eye on Amy. She stayed glued to her friends throughout most of the afternoon. Swimming in the warm ocean waters, playing volleyball on the shore and taking pictures every moment they could.

He smiled to himself, he was happy to see her laughing; it helped ease his guilt.

"Hey Birdie," Gilbert Beilschmidt grinned as he walked over to Matthew.

"Hello Gil, enjoying the party?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It's amusing that's for sure." He turned to face Amy, who was dancing on the plastic tile floor with her friends.

It was now evening, and the Hawkfeathers had hung Christmas lights over the tables and dance floor; creating a magnificent twinkling wonder land. Johnny was working as the DJ and was playing a playlist of Amy's favorite songs. A series of hip hop, alternative, electropop, rock and R&B filled the speakers. It was a good mix and Matthew personally liked it, but he couldn't speak for the older nations. They usually stood around and waited for songs that they knew to come on, unfortunately that wasn't often. Good thing the humans at the party were friendly and patient. The children on the other hand, had made it their personally mission to get all of the nations to join them on the floor.

The next song that blasted from the speakers was from Imagine Dragons called 'Tokyo'. Matthew watched as Amy and her friends started to jump to the beat and sing along to the lyrics. After a minute into the song, Amy ran into the crowd and dragged Kiku to the dance floor. She then began to show him how to shuffle his feet to the beat. Kiku tried to walk away but Amy would get in his way by spinning him in a circle. Feliciano joined in, forcing Kiku in the middle as he and Amy danced at his sides. Heisuke jumped in next and encouraged Kiku to dance.

Kiku seemed to have been won over for he began to move his feet in sync with Heisuke. They stomped their feet together with Feliciano and Amy as everyone created a circle around them, clapping and cheering them on.

"Have you guys told her yet?" Gilbert asked.

Matthew sighed, "No."

He snorted, "When you do, make sure to tell me. I'm just dying to see her face when you tell her of our little project," he smirked.

* * *

It was late, almost reaching one o'clock in the morning. The party had waned down, leaving my friends and I left standing on the dance floor. My cousins were driven to my house, Kupunakane and Kupunawahine had left with Grandma Aponi and Mr. James was picked up by a nurse from the nursing home. Family friends were long gone along with a few nations, but most had stayed, sitting around at the tables.

"Okay, it's about to be one a.m. and I'm tired. So here's the last song for you crazy kids," Johnny announced and clicked on a Lana Del Rey song.

"My feet are killing me," Ella whined as she sat in a nearby chair.

Daniela brushed through her sweat soaked hair, "I am dying for a hot bath."

"You're not the only one love," Sam yawned.

Everyone else followed, but I stayed behind. 'Once Upon a Dream' was my favorite song by Lana. She made this song so deliciously eerie that I couldn't help but find it beautiful. I kicked off my sandals and twirled with my arms stretched out at my sides. I quickly grew serious as I added ballet moves along with some interpretive dance. I did rapid a round of bourree followed by a pirouette. My arms were flowing freely to the music as my feet moved in a lone waltz.

At the corner of my eye, I caught Sam recording my performance as my friends watched in awe. I gave them a sly smile and continued to own the floor.

* * *

Michel loved to see Amy dance. She just had a way of transporting her audience to a mystical world that no one would dare leave. He took a rushed scan of the yard. The nations were observing with unwavering faces, their eyes never leaving Amy. Most of these nations were leering with such a fierce desire that it made Michel uneasy.

He craned his neck to find Toris seating at a table on the far right. He narrowed his eyes to focus on Toris's face. His eyes were dazed and he wore a small smile. His stare was different from the others; he looked at her like she was a graceful deer gazing in the fields. Simply enjoying the chance to watch her even if that means it would only be once.

Michel gave a silent approval; he was definitely boyfriend material for Amy. A mischievous grin spread from ear to ear, he had idea.

He jumped out of his seat and dashed to Johnny, "Play another song."

Johnny said, "No, I'm done. Besides Amy's the only one dancing."

"Please!" Michel begged, "One more song!"

He sighed, "Fine, any requests?"

"'Starry Eyed'."

"The one by the same artist?" he asked.

"Yes," Michel nodded.

"Okay, it'll come up right after."

Michel nodded and ran to Toris's table. "Toris buddy," he wrapped an arm around the nation's shoulders. "Listen, I need you to go and dance with Amy."

"W-what," he stuttered, "no, I can't besides she is doing just fine on her own and this song is about to end-"

"There's another one coming up, but you have to hurry."

"I knew you would cheat," a voice spoke from behind and Michel turned to find Jamie with her arms crossed.

"It's not what it looks like," he said defensively.

She narrowed her eyes at him and glanced to Heracles, "two can play at this game."

"No!" but she had already sprinted to the Greek's direction and Michel cursed. He pulled on Toris's arm, "come on the song's ending. You need to get up there."

He gripped the table, "no I don't want to."

"Stop being a baby and go," Feliks shoved his shoulder.

"If he won't," Mikkel raised his hand, "I'll be happy to take his place."

"Knowing you," Lukas added, "you'll do something to piss her off and we would have to scrap your brains off the floor. I don't know about all of you but I want to keep my clothes clean."

Michel spotted Heracles standing up from his table and he grew desperate. "Please Toris just dance with her! I know you like her!"

His eyes widened in shock and he quickly looked away, "no I don't."

"Dude it's written all over your face!"

The song ended and the next began. Amy was surprised for there to be another, but she recovered quickly and rocked herself to the music. Michel ground his teeth together, he was about to haul Toris over to the dance floor but someone beats him to it. Not Heracles, but a tall Russian young man with dark hair and a gymnast body.

Dimitri held out his hand and Amy took it. He spins her into him and draped his arms around her waist. Amy was hesitant at first but she ended up hooking her arms around his neck. She laid her head on his chest as he leaned his chin into her hair. They swayed together back and forth to the music, wrapped in a passionate embrace.

Michel's jaw dropped, "Dammit Dimitri."

"Dimitri? Is that what that boy's name is?" Feliks asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"And is he Russian?"

Michel nodded and caught Toris slumping into his seat, with a defeated look on his face. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you just crushed all the confidence he had left," Feliks laughed.

* * *

I yawned and felt Dimitri's lips curl into a smile against my scalp. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, "when I get home I'm just gonna curl up into my blankets and sleep."

"Do you wish to have company?" he bantered.

I blushed and gave him a soft smack on his arm, "no."

He grinned at first but his lips fell into a serious line. That's when I realized that I was staring at his lips. _Stop it Amy!_

The song was fading and Dimitri opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by someone clearing his throat. We froze and turned to face Arthur, "Amy we have something to discuss with you."

"Okay, but-"

"Come along Mr. Maier," Mrs. Lope walked over and tapped Dimitri's shoulder. "We need to go."

"Can I-"

"No, it's pass curfew, we need to go," she turned to the others at the table, "That includes all of you, let's go."

They rose to their feet, said their goodbyes and walked to the concrete street. Dimitri spared one last glance to me and I gave a tiny wave, "you can tell me tomorrow."

He nodded, planted a chaste kiss on my forehead and followed the others to a dark minivan. When the van had driven out of the sight the countries took that as their cue to move forward. They formed a small circle around the dance floor right in front of the white screen. Michel, Jamie, my parents, siblings and their spouses stood on my far left, each of them giving me encouraging smiles.

I lifted a brow in question, "is there something going on? You guys going to perform a blood ritual that will orientate me into the UN, then sacrifice a goat and dance around a sacred fire, naked?"

Arthur's eye twitched, "no."

"Oh thank god! I was worried that I would have to kill a cute baby billy goat."

"Enough of your distasteful jokes Ms. America," Ludwig glared fiercely at me, "we have important business to discuss with you."

I rolled my eyes, "What else is new."

"Are we connected yet?" Ludwig asked Kiku.

Kiku was on a laptop, typing rapidly, "Just about; Sealand-kun how's the web cam?"

"Almost got it," Peter proclaimed as he climbed a latter to attach a web cam on the top of the screen. He climbed back down and walked backwards, "just tell me when to stop."

Kiku watched the computer and when Peter came into perfect view he exclaimed, "There."

Peter stopped and drew an 'X' on the spot between his legs. He walked over and pulled me to the letter, "stand right here," he instructed as he moved the latter to the side.

"Okay, seriously what's going on?" I asked.

"Hello Amy," I jumped at the sound of a new, slightly louder voice appeared.

I faced the screen and found Isabella Garcia sitting behind her desk in the presidential office. She wore a stylish pants suit with her brown hair curled and makeup professionally done. She beamed when she saw me, "I hope you enjoyed your little gift from me."

"Uh yeah," I exclaimed, "I had a lot fun with my friends today and it's all thanks to you."

"You're welcome," her smile vanished, replaced with a serious line. "I'm sure you are wondering what all this is about."

"What was your first clue? The question I asked? Or the puzzlement look on my face?"

"Amy," Mom hissed at me as a warning.

The president laughed, "Oh I just love your sarcasm." Then she sighed, "I just hope they beat it out of you."

My brows knitted together in confusion, "What?!"

"Amy, like all nations you need to be trained as a soldier in the military," she proclaimed.

"M-military?! Like, wake up at four in the morning for ten mile runs in the rain military?!"

"Yes," she said with a straight face.

I snorted, "You're joking right."

She arched a brow and waited.

My grin fell, "You want me to join the army?!"

"You have to learn how to fight, and besides all the nations are part of their country's army. It only seemed natural that you should join the US army." Isabella said.

I sucked air through my teeth, "Uh, no offense but I don't want to."

She clapped her hands together, "well too bad. You don't have a choice."

"Yes I do. I'm an American citizen, I can choose if I want to join the army or not."

"Amy, you are not a citizen, you are a nation, big difference. And I'm the president that means I'm commander in chief of the armed forces. I can decide if you can join the army or not, and guess what, you are."

"But-but-"

"No buts. I'm your boss, meaning whatever I say goes."

"What about Congress?! Where the hell are they in this?!" I shouted.

She laughed, "First time they actually agreed on anything without a week long debate."

I spun to face my family, "aren't you guys gonna say anything?!"

"We can't," Dad sighed, "your eighteen, we no longer have a say."

"Turns out your grandfather had signed away your rights when you were two," Mom hissed through gritted teeth.

"And you didn't tell me this!"

"We didn't know till a few days ago!"

"Ladies, calm yourselves," Dad stepped between us.

Mom took a deep breath but I was shaking my head in disbelief. "Why would he do this?"

"He knew that one day you would have to serve your country," Isabella proclaimed. "Of course we discussed certain things I can control, such as your national duties, higher education and military training. As long as you give your all in your studies, duties and training, you can do whatever you please."

I glared but my look quickly died. A part of me was relieved; I had no idea where I was heading earlier today. Now I had a plan, even though it was thrust upon me with no warning, it was better than nothing. But there had to be compromise, "Okay I get it. Studies, duties and training but I have the choice of school."

"As long as it's outside California," she crossed her arms.

"Fine, but I want a major in dance."

She nodded her head, "Very well, but you need to have a major in government economics and politics and a minor in US history."

"Okay but I want some courses in psychology, a fencing class and permission to join college clubs."

"Done, done and only if you keep your GPA at a 4.0 average," Isabella said.

"3.0!"

"3.5."

"Done," I agreed.

"You do realize that you graduated from Nightingale with a 2.7 GPA," Jamie added.

"Shut it," I narrowed my eyes at her.

Isabella giggled, "don't worry she'll have enough leverage for any college of her choice after her two year training with the nations."

I froze like a deer caught in the headlights, "huh?!"

"You didn't really think you would train with the US army."

"Uh, yeah."

"Amy, we can't afford any humans that haven't been cleared for high military status to know of you. Besides you get to travel the world and witness and take part in the meetings, its killing two birds with one stone."

"Madam President," Louis Catalano, an agent of the US Secret Service walked into the view of the camera, "We have to go, you have a campaign meeting."

She nodded and turned back to me, "talk to Germany, he'll be the first country you'll visit." She rose from her seat, "bye, bye Amy have fun," with those final words she walked out of the shot and the screen went black.

Then Ludwig placed his hand on my shoulder and handed me a plane ticket. "I suggest you pack your bags, our plane leaves at nine."


	3. Chapter 3

"I've should have seen this coming," I said in a meek tone as I sat at my velvet window seat. "The new luggage, the international gift cards and the foreign money," I hid my face in my hands, "I'm so stupid."

"Sweetie you're not stupid," Mom sat herself beside me to rub my back. "You just don't seem to catch foreshadowing."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"What's going on?" Alyce mumbled as she rose from the air mattress. Valencia yawned beside her and Gael rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, "is it time to go home?" he asked.

"Nah," Roman yawned, "we're not leaving till the twentieth."

"I don't want to go," Lali whined.

"No, the only person leaving is Amy," Melissa proclaimed as she packed more of my clothes and toiletries into my trunk styled luggage. The kids had once again used my room as their sleep over hangout. Alyce, Valencia and Gael slept on the air mattress while Roman, Lali and the twins slept in my bed.

"Where is she going?" Blair asked.

"Germany, China, Australia, where ever the hell they want to send me; I have no say what's so ever." I mumbled.

"Watch your language," Mom said through gritted teeth.

"I wonder," Melissa looked at my recently cleaned bathing suit, "will you be swimming? What's the weather like in Europe during the summer?"

Mom checked her phone. "The highs are usually in the seventies or eighties."

"Wow that sounds absolutely amazing, we've been in the high nineties for weeks, almost the hundreds." Melissa tucked in my blue one piece bathing suit along with my new clothes from Johnny and Celine.

"Do I have to leave now?" I grumbled, "I mean what about my summer?"

"Yeah, you were going to let us ride some more," Gael proclaimed.

"You also promised to take us to the beach," said Valencia.

"And take us camping," Roman added.

I nodded, "yes, yes, I know. See," I turned to face Mom, "I have obligations."

She sighed, "We tried to persuade Isabella to let you stay till September but she said that her hands were tied."

I narrowed my eyes, "by that, does she mean _they_ had something to do with it."

Mom and Melissa nodded.

_Damn them_, I thought to myself.

"I need to pack your sari, I found out you'll be visiting India," Melissa smiled as she walked out of the room.

"Oh that reminds me. I bought you some new underwear with matching bras," Mom announced as she followed Melissa.

The children giggled, "It must have been awhile," Alyce grinned.

"_Cochina_," Valencia exclaimed, and that comment earned her a couple of laughs from the others. The word means nasty in Spanish.

"Ha, ha, ha. I'll have you know I wear clean underwear very day."

She rolled her eyes, "sure you do."

I rose from my seat and packed in a pair of simple toe open sandals, along with my worn out tennis shoes and black converse. I opened up my carry on and slid in my makeup bag (I usually only wore lip gloss, but who knows when I needed to be dolled up.) I then added a few more t-shirts, two pairs of jeans and a brown cross the shoulder purse that carried all the international gift cards and foreign money from the party.

"Are you really leaving," Lali asked as she gave me the wounded puppy dog look.

I sighed, "Yeah."

"But why?" she whined.

I ruffled her hair, "Sweetie I have to."

"How long will you be gone?" Roman asked.

"Two years," I answered.

"Two years!" they exclaimed in sync.

"Will you be back on holidays?" Alyce asked.

I shook my head, "I don't think so."

"But what about our Christmas traditions?" she exclaimed.

"Whose gonna tell us stories about Santa Claus?" Lali whimpered.

"Most importantly, whose gonna bake us cookies?" Gael asked.

I laughed, "Guys you'll be fine, besides just think about all the cool presents I'll send you."

"You'll send us gifts! Really?" Valencia grinned.

"Of course," I handed Alyce my smartphone, "here, plug in your addresses and add your birthdays into the calendar, that way I won't forget."

"We're getting presents! We're getting presents!" Lali sang as she jumped on the bed.

"Not yet come on," Roman picked her up and carried her to the velvet seat where the kids had gathered around Alyce as she typed in their birthdays.

I placed my camera into a side pocket and packed in the cord that would connect the camera to a computer. I mentally crossed off items in my head; I had my tooth bush, hair bush, passport, IDs, phone charger, and a European wall plug so my electrics would work. I roamed through my nightstand drawer, searching for anything else I might need. I stumbled upon my grandfather's leather bound journal. This journal was filled with stories about Grandpa and Alfred, it sure came in handy when the nations came knocking on my door. I flipped through the pages; I haven't read any entries since April, mostly because I was too busy with prom, finals and graduation.

Still, I was curious. What was Alfred _truly_ like? The only peak I had into his mind was his will (which was paper clipped into the pages of the journal.) I had made a plan to take a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia in the fall, but clearly that was put on hold. Before I could second guess myself, I dropped it into the carry on.

"Aunt Amy," I turned to face Blake.

"What is it kiddo?"

He held up the dream catcher from my window, "You have to take this."

"The dream catcher?" I lifted up and caressed the small wooden animals that daggled from leather strings, along with crystals and feathers. But new stones were recently added into the web of the catcher thanks to Blake. Two months ago he had cut out the old web and replaced it with new string. Which was first soaked in cactus juice, mixed with lavender scented water; he then threaded small pieces of stone into the string. 'Stones for protection' he had said. Amber, black onyx, blue chalcedony, topaz and peridot were scattered over the web and every time the dream catcher moved the stones would wiggle.

"Blake, you worked so hard on this, I don't want to lose it."

"But you have to take it with you."

"I want it here."

"But you have to admit you've been sleeping better ever since I fixed it."

"True but-"

He caught my hand that held the dream catcher and moved it to my chest. "Please Aunt Amy, take it with you. It will protect you," his dark pleading eyes made full contact to my blue. "Please," he begged in a soft tone as tears formed in the corner of his eyes, "please."

My heart squeezed. "Sweetie, don't cry I'll take it with me."

"You will?"

"Of course," I smiled.

He held up his pinky, "Promise?"

I curled my pinky around his; "promise." I then wrapped the dream catcher in tissue paper and placed it into the carry on.

He wiped his tears away with the back of his hand as Blair leaped onto the bed with a knowing grin on her face. "Told you crying would work."

Blake grinned back, "She's so easy."

My jaw dropped, "you little con artist, you faked it?!"

The twins answered with laughter as I narrowed my eyes at them.

"Aw, what a touching moment," I looked up to the door where Michel and Jamie stood.

"What do you want," I asked in a monotone.

"Don't be such a sourpuss," Jamie walked in and held up a worn out spiral notebook. "Remember this?"

My eyebrows rose, "No way," I took the notebook into my hands. "Where did you find this?"

"You don't remember, we buried this in the back yard and promised to dig it up when we were eighteen."

"This notebook symbolizes our faithful promise to travel the world together," Michel's voice grew emotional and dramatic. "After you made your remarkable recovery from the Recession, we stated that we would make your number one wish come true. The wish that gave you hope for tomorrow, the reason you kept clinging to life-"

I rolled my eyes, "Are we getting somewhere drama queen."

"What he means is," Jamie said, "this is your chance to fulfill the wish of your childhood self."

"But we were supposed to do this together," I proclaimed. "We were supposed to party in London, drink wine in Rome and shop for those funny little hats in Paris."

She simply smiled, "Amy, we were ten when we buried this. Plans change. We have school to think about."

"Right," I sighed gloomily.

Michel wrapped his arm around my shoulders, "Hey now, no need to be sad. Who says we can't reschedule."

I gave a small smile, "I'm gonna miss you guys." I hugged him tight.

"I got you a journal," Jamie placed a simple blue graphic notebook into my carry on. "Make sure you write about all your adventures."

"And all your sexy romances," Michel wiggled his brows seductively.

I shook my head, "is this so you guys can count up points when I come back," I asked this more as a statement than a question.

They both nodded happily and I sighed. "I'm gonna see if Mom still has her old Kindle." I walked out the door and left them alone with my carry on. I was going to regret that.

* * *

The airport was crowded as I was shuffled in through the check in line. I confirmed my ticket along with tagging and checking in my luggage. Once I was done, (forty minutes of my life I will never get back) I headed over to Security. I lingered behind the lines and turned to face my parents, who came to see me off.

I dropped my bag to the ground, "so any final words till I'm sent off to hell."

Dad shook his head but he still carried a smile on his lips. He slipped his hand into my hair and pulled me to his chest. He wrapped his arm around my back and kissed the side of my head, "be safe and if anything happens call us. No matter what Isabella has said, if you feel like your life is in danger, you can call us and we'll wire money to get yourself on a plane back home."

I smiled and tightened my hold on him, "thanks Dad."

"And I swear to God if Russia tries anything-"

"I'll kick his ass and come straight home," I grinned.

He smiled, "that's my girl."

When Dad released me, Mom pulled me into a rib-crushing embrace. "Be careful, I mean it."

"I know," I nodded.

"No mouthing off," she continued.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Be respectful and clean up after yourself."

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore."

She combed her fingers through my hair, "I know," she sighed as she blinked back tears, "I know."

I kissed her on the cheek, "I have to go, they'll be boarding in an hour."

She nodded but still she lingered. Dad came from behind, placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. She wiped her eyes and laid her head into the nook of his neck. "Go on Amy," Dad gestured to the line, "just remember, no matter what, you'll always have us. You'll always have a home to return to."

Mom nodded but carried a sad expression. I gave her a carefree smile, "Don't worry momma cougar your bear cub will be just fine." She smiled back and I walked through the Security line.

When I reached Boarding I met up with Ludwig and Gilbert.

"Morning," I greeted as I yawned.

Ludwig nodded as Gilbert grinned mischievously, "Well, well, it's about time you finally pulled yourself away from your mother's nipple."

"Ha. How long did it take you come up with that joke. Hold on I already know the answer, _centuries_."

"Centuries, yes the amount of time that will take you to reach my level of awesomeness."

"Dude, you can take your so called 'awesomeness' and shove it up your-"

Ludwig stepped between us, "Enough. Brother, please don't taunt her and Ms. Hawkfeather please show some self-restraint."

I rolled my eyes, "righty-o Captain," I gave a mock salute.

"I'm a _Generalleutnant_, a Major General," Ludwig narrowed his eyes at me.

I lifted an eyebrow, "What's the difference?"

The brothers shared a look till the elder grinned, "we're gonna have a lot of fun with this one."

"Attention, Flight 304 to Berlin, Germany is now boarding," a female voice announced over the intercom.

* * *

Its official, I hate flying.

The chairs are small with no elbow room what's so ever. They gave me nothing to eat besides cold chicken, some nasty stale peanuts and warm, gooey jello. You practically have to beg your flight attendant to get you a cup of water and the bathroom lines were dreadfully long. But the absolute worse was being crammed in the middle of Ludwig and Gilbert for nearly seventeen hours.

Ludwig sat in the aisle seat as he entertained himself with a book and didn't bother to make small talk. Gilbert had the window seat and amused himself with a game on his iPad.

"You actually know how to work one of those?" I asked.

He cracked a wicked smile, "I may be old but I'm not stupid."

"You could've fooled me."

His brows rose, "how about we settle this with a game of chess." He opened an app and brought forth a digital chess board with the usually white and black game pieces.

I smirked, "you're on."

Within the first hour, the score was thirty-six to zero. Clearly chess wasn't like checkers.

"Checkmate," Gilbert proclaimed as his knight took my king.

"But-but I took your pawns and your piece with the cross thing."

"My bishop, yeah you did. But you left your king open; the whole point of the game is to take the other's king."

I groaned, "And this game is popular why?"

He reloaded a new game, "such a childish thing to say." I glared as he gave a superior smile. "Are you done playing then?"

"No," I hissed, I wasn't about to give up, not until I wiped that smug grin off his face.

Surprisingly we played chess for another two hours. My score remained at zero and Gilbert was not about to let me forget it.

"Checkmate," he grinned as his bishop and knight cornered my king, "the score is seventy-four to, what was your score again?" He asked with an evil smile.

"Zero," I mumbled.

He chuckled. "You know, I'm going to be nice. Let's play something you _might_ have chance at winning."

I bit my tongue back from saying a snappy comment as he brought out recent games. We played UNO, ZombieSmash, Clash of Clans, Candy Crush Saga and every version of Angry Birds we could find. This scenario of non-stop gaming lasted for hours. We only stopped for meals and bathroom breaks. The scores were pretty even but I totally crushed him in UNO, thank you family game night.

After dinner Ludwig suggested we take a break from the games, mostly because we were disturbing his reading. Mom allowed me to borrow her Kindle Fire HD; she even gave me money to purchase books and paid a year subscription to Netflix. _My mom is so awesome. Gilbert got nothing on her._

I skimmed through the TV shows and movies, deciding wither to start something new or re-watch an old show. Gilbert looked over my shoulder, "anything good?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm tempted to re-watch _Once Upon a Time_."

"That girly fairy tale show," he snorted, "I asked for something good not something that would drive me to claw my own eyes out."

"Then maybe I should watch it," I smirked.

He flicked his fingers over the tablet, "Let's see, do you have anything from Germany?"

I pulled the electronic away from him, "I don't know, check your iPad."

"The battery is dead."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours," he said, "you couldn't accept the fact that I was awesome in everything."

"Did you forget my UNO scores; fifty-nine wins baby," I grinned.

After twenty minutes of arguing we came to an agreement of watching zombie movies. We started with the classics, _Shaun of the Dead_ and _Zombieland_. Then we found _Detention of the Dead_, which was about a group of random teenagers that would never hang out together outside of detention (you know, a geek, a goth, a cheerleader, a jock, and a happy go lucky drug user). The entire plot is about teenagers having to put aside their stereotypically high school roles and work together to survive as zombies attack their classmates and over run their school. It was as if the _Breakfast Club_ and _Shaun of the Dead_ came together for a dunked one night stand and this was their sloppy love making. Spoil alert; the geek and the goth lived. Well, somewhat, the cheerleader becomes a zombie and attacks the geek at the end of the movie. We don't even know if he lived or died, but it was hilarious.

Don't get me wrong the movie was horrible but it had its moments and some redeemable scenes. My all-time favorite quote would have to be by the goth girl Willow: '_Looks like Rob Zombie raped the entire cast of Gossip Girl and this is their angry love child_.' _ Now I would like that on a t-shirt._ Gilbert and I had more fun making jokes about the movie rather than watching it.

"Americans seem to make _anything_ into a movie," he said as he shook his head.

I nodded, "sadly yes, but we do have our moments. You can't forget the Marvel franchise."

"The only good movies were the first _Avengers_ and the second _Captain America_."

"What! The second _Avengers_ movie was epic."

"Can you two shut up and go to sleep," Ludwig hissed at us.

"Why bother, it's going to be like ten to eleven in the morning when we land," I remarked.

"Think about everyone else," he narrowed his blue eyes at us, "Now; turn off the tablet and go to sleep." He ended the conversation by turning his back to us and readjusting the blanket over his shoulder.

Gilbert gave me a side way glance, "are you tired?"

"Nope; want to watch _The Notebook_? That movie always seems to put me to sleep," I offered.

The longest I every stayed awake for _The Notebook_ was an hour and twenty-six minutes. Jamie had gone as far as to time me. It's her favorite romance movie and she usually had to beg Michel and me to watch it with her. Michel was a good sport about it, but I was completely bored with the movie. No matter how many times we tried, I always fell asleep.

Ten minutes into the film, and I was already yawning. I laid my head back and curled the airline blanket around my shoulders. My eyelids were dropping and before long I was out cold.

* * *

Gilbert yawned, he was only thirty minutes into the movie but he no longer had the strength or desire to keep his eyes open. He stopped the film, logged out of the Netflix account and turned off the tablet. He tried to reach for Amy's carry on but it was completely under her seat, so he decided to store the tablet in the pocket of the airline seat that was in front of him.

He relaxed into his seat and draped the blanket over his lap. He was seconds away from an awkward positioned sleep until Amy's head fell onto his shoulder. He glanced over to find her kissable, petal colored lips inches away from his face. In an instant, energy surged through his body at the thought of her lips on his. He moved closer to tease himself with a simple brush of their lips. He froze when she stirred but her eyes remained close and her breathing was steady.

He brushed aside her hair to reveal her smooth cheek and at that moment a wicked idea came to thought. He reached into his back pack for a marker and began to write on her face.

* * *

"Attention everyone this is your pilot speaking," a deep male's voice awoke me from my rest. "We'll be landing in Berlin, Germany in fifteen minutes. Please secure your items and buckle yourselves in for landing."

I yawned as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I made sure the Kindle Fire HD was placed back into my carry on and slid it under the seat. I buckled myself in, folded the gray blanket and handed it to our flight attendant. When she turned to face me, her eyes widened slightly but she remained polite as she took our blankets and walked on.

Ludwig buckled himself to his chair and brushed his blond hair back. He glanced to me and his eyebrows rose. I frowned at him, "what?"

He was hesitant but he must've thought I wouldn't notice, "Nothing." He moved his arm around me to shove his brother, "Wake up!"

Gilbert jumped slightly and rubbed his face with his hands, "What?"

"Did you," he spared a look at me before he continued, "do something you shouldn't have done," he said through gritted teeth.

Gilbert grinned, "Maybe."

Ludwig said nothing else, merely groaned and massaged his temples.

"What did he do?" I asked.

The younger brother quickly said, "Nothing."

* * *

We landed at Berlin Tegel Airport at11:46 a.m. and the airport was just as crowded as it was in Santa Barbara. It sure was easier to get through Security but people were staring. I mean, Ella told me once that if a European man was interested in someone, they would make it known by staring at the person but I was pretty sure not every man, woman and child wanted to go on a date with me. I grew very self-conscious. I glanced to my clothes; I was wearing a pair of comfy jeans that I had cut to stop at the knees, a purple tank top and pair of worn out silver colored sneakers. I didn't seem to be violating any dress codes, but still, young men would chuckle as they walked passed me. Women shook their heads and mothers averted their children's eyes.

_Okay, seriously what is up everyone?_

After we gathered our checked luggage; I followed Ludwig and Gilbert to the front of the airport where a cab was waiting. The cab driver grabbed our luggage first and when he moved to take my carry on, his eyes darted to my face and he smirked. I knitted my brows as I tightened my hold on my bag and he turned away quickly.

Ludwig ushered me to the backseat as Gilbert sat in the passenger seat next to the driver. "Take us to Inselstraße," Gilbert told the driver in German as he glanced at me through the rear view mirror. He smirked, his red eyes shining.

I rolled my eyes and turned to my window, I was about to plug myself into my iPod till I noticed something dark on my cheek. I focused in on my reflection and found 'I Suck Cock' written along my cheek bone with a penis drawn near the corner of my mouth.

I instantly connected the dots and leapt at Gilbert, "You son of a bitch!"

Before he could react I smashed my fist into his cheek. The blow caused him to crash against the window. He groaned and tried to unlock the door. I was climbing over the driver as Ludwig sprang into action.

He gripped me by my shirt and pulled me back. "Control yourself!"

I took deep calming breaths, "You're lucky your brother was here to save you. If not the cab driver would have to spend his entire day just to scrape your brains off the seats."

Gilbert opened the door to spit out blood and turned to the driver as he slammed the door shut. "_Gehen wir_," he gestured to the road but the driver didn't move. He was more concerned about Gilbert and me getting into another fight. Gilbert grew irritated, "Let's go old man!"

The driver nodded and drove us into traffic.

As we drove, I grabbed some wipes from my carry on and began to scrub harshly into my skin. I used the window to clean myself but it was hard to tell if I got all the ink off. I turned to Ludwig, "Hey did I get all of it?"

He nodded, "yes it's fading."

To be safe, I added some makeup remover to the wipe and cleansed my cheek with it. I was able to catch Gilbert rubbing his wounded cheek. I narrowed my eyes at him, _asshole_. I shoved my used wipe into my jean pocket and faced the window to do some sightseeing. The driver took us down south, along the edge of Berlin. He took us down swift roads with street signs and buildings scattered on both sides. We drove on, continuing straight onto highways 111 and 110.

Half way through our drive the buildings were soon replaced with tall trees. "Where are we?" I asked.

"We're in Grunewald," Ludwig answered, "it's a national park and quite a large one too."

"And where are we going? I thought we would stay in the city," I said.

"No, it's too crowded. We're going to Inselstraße, think of it as an island on a lake. We have few neighbors there and enough room for your training. You can even entertain yourself with the lake on your days off."

Finally, we reached Inselstraße and it's just like Ludwig described. An island on a lake filled with trees and few houses. Before we crossed the bridge, there was a boating dock for people to store and ride out their boats on the dark colored water. After crossing, some houses stood close, but as we drove further into Inselstraße the large houses were spread out with massive plots of land. There was only one road and it wrapped itself in a loop around the entire island.

The Beilschmidt brothers lived on the northern corner of the island, with the most trees covering the front of their estate. I could barely see this so called house. The cab driver parked the car in front a black iron gate with towering trees shading the entire sidewalk.

Gilbert paid the man as Ludwig climbed out of the car and I followed after him. He pulled out our luggage and headed to the gate. I slid my carry on strap over my shoulder and adjusted my luggage to roll behind me. Gilbert grabbed his bags as the cab drove away and he followed behind us. The sidewalk and street roads were made with worn out gray brick. The sky was clear and the sun was streaming light through small openings of branches. I had to take a moment to scan my surrounds. The branches were long and covered the land in an endless sea of shade. Further along, the trees scattered with more fields in between. The leaves were bright green, matching the fresh cut lawn. Colorful flower gardens complemented the yard and were planted around the front area of the house.

Now the house was three stories with six windows on the first two and four on the third. It was big, but more modest than Austria's house, almost like an old manor house you would see in an old mystery movie. The first floor was built with white brick, the second floor was red and the top floor was black with a slight spacing in between of gray. In the center of the manor was a small stone porch that outlined two windows on top of one another above the two white painted doors.

"This seems cozy," I remarked.

I was met with silence as Ludwig unlocked the door and walked in. The inside was old fashion yet mixed with modern items. Paintings framed the walls, along with wooden floors and tasteful furniture. The living room had a flat screen and lazy-boy leather seats. The kitchen was bright and had plenty of windows facing the left side of the yard.

"America," Ludwig called out to me, "follow me, I'll show you to your room."

I lifted my luggage by the handle and followed him up the stair case to the second floor. He leads me down the left side of the hall to the last door on the left, "I made sure to put a lock on the door, so no one would disturb you."

The room was filled with natural sunlight, thanks to the one window in the front and two on the side. The walls were covered with blue flowered wall paper and the floors were polished wood. There was a large chestnut colored wardrobe in the middle of the two windows and a matching set of night stands stood on each side of the bed. The bed was queen sized with the same wooden frame as the furniture and had light blue covers and pink pillows.

"Thanks," I nodded to him as I walked in.

"If you would, please leave your things and come with me for a moment."

* * *

I followed Ludwig and Gilbert to the basement. Every nerve in my being was practically screaming for me to run in the opposite direction, for if I reference every horror movie I've seen, nothing good ever goes on in the basement.

But through this old fashioned stone spiral stair case was a very modern looking gym. Complete with weights, mats, punching bags and dummies, and a climbing rope. The brothers head over to the stack of mats and set a few on the floor. Ludwig then removes his jacket and rolls up his sleeves. He turned to face me, "Are you ready?"

I knitted my brows in confusion, "For what?"

"Your training," he proclaimed, "I have to see where you are to estimate the level of endurance." He held up his fists, "attack me."

My eyes widened, "Really? Now?"

"_Ja_, come on," he gestured for me to move forward.

I hesitated, not really sure on what do to.

"Just see if you can land a hit."

I moved on to the mat and shuffled myself to the balls of my feet. I lifted my fists up to my face and shot out my right arm. Ludwig gripped his hand around my wrist to push my fist away from making contact. He then tripped me with his foot and shoved me to the floor, all in one swift move.

I was dazed, it happened so fast.

"Try again," he spoke as he prepared himself into his stance.

I sighed, "Can't we rest first?"

"No!" he barked, "now get up!"

I groaned as I rose to my feet and held my hands up. Ludwig wasn't going to make the first move; it was my skills he was analyzing. I decided to surprise him with a high kick aimed to the face, but he saw that coming. He grabbed my calf and tossed me to the floor without even moving from his spot.

Gilbert laughed, "She's as weak as a kitten."

My face heated in embarrassment and I snapped at him, "Did you forget what I can do to your face!"

"How about you show me America," Ludwig smiled smugly.

I ground my teeth together in frustration. Here I was in the outskirts of Berlin, barely had any sleep, learning how to fight in the military and yet not by the US army. But by the nations, who took me away from my last summer with my friends and forced me into a two year training boot camp.

The anger was finally coming to a boiling point and before I could even think. I jumped to my feet and charged head on. I threw a series of punches but Ludwig easily weaved around them. Dodging or blocking every move I made. As my fists began to slow that was when he went on the offense. He elbowed me in the gut, threw me over his back and slammed me into the mat.

Pain shot up my lower back to my rib cage and it hurt to breathe.

Ludwig sighed, "we have a long way to go."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, school. Enough said. Anyway I would like to thank Google maps for finding** **Inselstraße it's the perfect scene for Amy's training. I can just imagine Ludwig forcing Amy to run laps around the island. Ha! Also, if I have any fans from Germany feel free to call me out on my mistakes. Or if you wish to send facts and stories about Berlin, that would be appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

Ludwig pounded on my guestroom door, "America wake up!"

"I'm up, I'm up," I groaned as I rose from my bed at four in the morning. I rushed to the wardrobe and pulled out a green shirt and black jeggings. I tied on my tennis shoes and opened the door.

The day started with breakfast, usually eggs and sausage. After our meal, Ludwig and I ran laps around the island. Twenty laps had to be done in less an hour, which was torture.

"Pick up the pace," Ludwig exclaimed as he slowed his pace to match mine. "Move it or do fifty burpees, your choice."

I panted, out of breath but increased my jog into a sprint. Burpees were the last thing I needed.

When laps were done, we headed down to the basement. First, we stretched to increase our flexibility; I took some pride in that. Thanks to my dancing history I was able to reach certain lengths that neither Ludwig nor Gilbert could. We would then move on to weight training, building our muscles and increasing our strength. Followed by pushups, crunches and basic fighting skills; the dummies were brought out for that part.

"Aim for the gut and head," Ludwig instructed, "that will weaken your opponent."

I held my fists up near my chin and punched the dummy man in the stomach and face. I had some boxing experience thanks to Johnny. He taught me as a kid, hoping to build my strength back up after I recovered from my illness a.k.a the Recession.

"Don't lock your elbows," he called out.

"Practice your uppercuts and hooves," Gilbert added.

Uppercuts were punches aimed under the chin and hooves were hits that aim for the side of the head. The arm had to be horizontal as the fist strikes the cheek in a quick motion.

"Switch to your legs," Ludwig exclaimed.

I jumped back from the dummy and lifted my knees up to my chest one at a time. I repeated this till Ludwig told me to kick. I stepped towards the dummy and kicked forward. I practiced kicks to the side of the ribs, straight into the gut and then moved on to a high round kick to the face. This pattern continued as side kick, straight kick and round kick; this repeated till he told me to go back to punching. Then he would bark at me to switch to my kicks, then back to my punches, etc. etc. (Usually I would go on doing these routines for more than an hour each.)

Lunch came after; mostly I used that hour to rest. Then Ludwig and I would run more laps followed with combat training. I winced at the thought of my first day.

_Gilbert and I stepped onto the mat. My whole body was twitching due to the recent day of actives. My limbs were on fire and that lunch was making its way back up._

"_Time for you to hit something that will hit back," Ludwig said as he leaned on the wall across from us._

"_Don't we get any patting?" I asked._

_I was answered with a fist to the gut. I hissed in pain and swallowed back my lunch. "You don't get any patting in real life," Gilbert smirked._

Combat training lasted for the entire afternoon, ending with stretching. After dinner both Ludwig and Gilbert would instruct me in military studies. This course contained battle strategies, weapon and vehicle identification and gun safety.

I haven't used a gun yet, but Ludwig says that after I'm able to take a gun apart and put it back together in less than two to three minutes; I won't even touch a bullet. I wasn't complaining; I didn't like guns.

After my studies, I'm free till lights out; though I was too exhausted to do anything else but shower and sleep.

This routine had been going on for five days straight.

Thank God it was Saturday.

Training would only last from four a.m. to three p.m. with no class. The rest of the day and Sunday belonged to me.

"Work on your defense," Ludwig exclaimed as his fists made full contact to my forearms.

My forearms were protecting my face, "I thought I was."

He threw his arm under and I jumped back to avoid a hit in the gut. I leaped into action when I saw an opening; I supported myself on my strong leg and waved my other leg up to reach his face. My kick would have been epic, unfortunately it didn't reach its mark; only left me open for Ludwig to grab my leg in motion. With a flick of his wrist he flipped me; a loud thud bounced off the walls as I collided into the mat.

I panted, "I yield. I yield."

Ludwig was out of breath, but sure looked better than me. His muscles were taut and defined. He wore a black tank, dark green cargo pants and combat boots; definitely soldier apparel.

Also, unlike him I was covered in bruises. My midsection was batted mess of blue and purple. My face carried purple and yellow marks and both of my eyes were red and violet. Gilbert said that my wounds would heal faster after a week or two of training. I hoped he was right, I was avoiding video skyping with my parents and they were starting to take notice.

I craned my neck up, even though every fiber of my being screamed at me not to move. I checked the wall clock; it was three. I grinned, "Freedom!"

I slowly rose to my feet, my muscles ached and my back was sore and twitching. Gilbert used that moment to slap me on the back, "way to go, you survived your first week."

I sucked in air through my teeth trying to control the urge to cry out in agony. He noticed and smirked, "Aw, did I hit you too hard?"

"Shut up."

He chuckled as his eyes glanced to my shirt, "Team Heracles? What's that about?"

My eyes widened as I looked down, it was the green Team Heracles tee that Jamie gave me for my birthday. I yelped; _I didn't even pack this._ Then I quickly remembered that I had left Michel and Jamie alone with my carry on. They must have packed their team t-shirts while I wasn't looking. Those sneaky bitches, they're so lucky they have an ocean protecting them from me.

"Um," I stuttered, "This is for," then an idea came to mind, "for the Heroes of Olympus series. It's the book series after the Percy Jackson series. This shirt is for Heracles, a character in the book." It wasn't an all-out lie, but there was no way I'd root for Heracles, I'm Team Leo all way.

Gilbert nodded, "Oh, I remember they tried to make those books into movies."

I groaned, "Don't even start, the movies were bad. Stick to the books, they're always better." Before he could ask any more questions, I found my second wind (more like fourth) and ran up the stairs.

* * *

I ran into my room and locked the door. I searched through the wardrobe and found the Team Toris shirt folded in a drawer. _How could I miss this?_ I tried to think back to the day I unpacked, the day Ludwig had to analyze my skills as jet leg took its toll on my body. I remembered that I was too tried to even pay attention to my clothing. I slapped my forehead, _I'm such an idiot. _I even _wore_ it.

At least it was the Heracles shirt, if it was the Toris shirt they would've known it was about Lithuania.

I took off the green shirt and grabbed the blue one and threw them both back into the carry on. I kicked the bag under the bed, hoping that no one would ever find them.

I grabbed the black shirt that Johnny gave me, along with skinny jeans and clean underwear. Ludwig and Gilbert each had rooms on the first floor, with their own bathrooms. Leaving the bathroom across from my room free for me; the room was simple, with white tile, white walls, white shower, sink and toilet. The shower was on the left with a clear glass door, and the sink and toilet were on the right. A large window was in between the shower and toilet, with an old fashion white bathtub raised on silver stands in front of it. I've only used the shower, so I figured I'll spoil myself with a bubble bath. I blasted the faucet with warm water and squeezed in some soap that Sofia got me from Bath & Body Works. It was called French Lavender and Honey and it smelled amazing; sweet, light and simple for everyday use. She gave me the whole set, lotion, body cream, shower gel, and body spray.

I discarded my work out clothes and slid into the tub. The warm water slipped into my sore muscles and I hissed and sighed in pleasure. The bubbles had formed quickly and completely covered my body. The sunlight streamed through the window and I was finally able to see what lies outside (it was always night when I showered). The field was open with a few scattered trees. The edge of the island was green with no sand. The lake was dark with light glittering off the surface.

I laid my head back on the rim and hummed a song from Lorde. This was the first time I was able to relax since I got here. Now I had the energy to think. The only downside to it was that I was homesick. I pondered on how my family and friends were doing as I twirled my sapphire pendent with my fingers. It was six in the morning in Summerland; Mom and Dad would be up by now, along with my second cousins. They would be planning a day of fun actives followed by a camping trip at the national park. Grandma would run the shop with Kupunawahine as Kupunakane surfed outside. Michel and Jamie wouldn't do anything till the afternoon, most likely hang with Ella, Daniela and Sam. Heisuke and Dimitri would have gone back to their countries by now too.

I wondered: _what did Dimitri want to say to me back at the party?_

I shook my thoughts away as I plunged myself underwater, pushing my nagging thoughts to the back of my mind.

* * *

After my bath, I got dressed and dried my hair with a towel. I headed down stairs for a glass of water. The front door ringed and I looked around for Gilbert or Ludwig, it wasn't my house, it would be rude to answer it. But whoever was behind that door kept ringing. I swallowed the rest of my water in one gulp, set the glass on a side table and opened the door, "Yes?"

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around me and pulled me in for a hug. "Amy! I'm so happy, you're still alive!" Feliciano squeezed as he nestled his face into the nook of my neck.

I winced at the soreness of my body and gently pushed him away, "And why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, I love Germany, but when he gets into his general mode he becomes a bit of a-"

"Hard ass," I finished.

"I heard that," Ludwig announced as he came up from behind. He was wearing casual clothes with a towel draped over his shoulders; he must have just gotten out of the shower.

"Speak of the devil," I grinned as I let Feliciano in, "you have a guest."

He sighed, "Italy what are you doing here?"

Feliciano gave him a big smile, "I came to visit you and Amy. This would be our chance to spend time together before the meeting."

"The G9 meeting won't take place for another week; it would be a waste for you to show up now." Ludwig lectured.

He glanced to his shoes, "I just thought it would be nice to spend some time with you."

"Feliciano, I'm busy training America."

"Technically, I'm free till Monday so if he wants to hang that's fine with me," I proclaimed.

"I actually want to stay till after the meeting," Feliciano added.

"Even better," I shrugged.

"No," Ludwig said firmly, "you can't stay for two weeks. Think about your work."

Feliciano gave a sad, pleading look, "please."

"Dear Lord it's like saying no to a puppy," I said.

Ludwig spared a warning look at me till he caved, "Fine, you can stay."

"Yay!" Feliciano squealed as he kissed Ludwig on both cheeks and moved to do the same with me. "I'll unpack my things and then we can go sightseeing."

* * *

Downtown Berlin was like no city I ever seen. Massive, unique buildings were scattered throughout the city, along with beautiful stone brick town homes aligning themselves beside the roads. It was architect's dream. Reichstag, the building for Parliament stood tall, with a large glass dome at the top where the German politicians work and so happens to be the place with the best view of the city.

Hundreds of people walked the streets, 'summer tourists' Ludwig said. Crowds ventured into the museums, the memorials, the flea and food markets, and the East Side Gallery. Which was the world's longest open air gallery; where over one hundred paintings were drawn on the Berlin Wall. It sat along the Spree River and was about a mile long. Feliciano pulled me along the wall, asking what my thoughts were about each painting.

I enjoyed art, but I wasn't an expert. Michel would be the one to be in awe. When new art pieces were being shown at our local museums, he would already have our tickets purchased and have the back story ready for each piece, prepared to be my personal tour guide. Feliciano was the same way, his auburn eyes gleamed and his smile was dazzling as he introduced me to every piece.

"This is the famous kiss of Erich Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev," he announced.

I looked up to see two middle aged men kissing. The men were extremely detailed, almost like someone took a photograph and pasted it on the wall.

"What do you think?" he asked.

I nodded my head in approval, "It's pretty cool, I bet it shocked some people to have two men kissing back then, which makes it even cooler. And I have to say, their kiss is pretty passionate." I took out my digital camera and asked Ludwig to take our picture.

He nodded as Feliciano, Gilbert and I took our place in front of the painting. Feliciano wrapped his arms round my waist in a friendly hug as Gilbert placed a hand on each of our shoulders and put on his most charming grin. I sighed and hooked an arm around Feliciano's neck and gave my brightest smile to Ludwig.

He took the shot with a flash and Feliciano ran over to take the camera, "Go stand with Amy," he exclaimed.

Ludwig was resistant to it but the Italian only kept pushing till he was standing beside me and his brother. Ludwig had his arms crossed, waiting for his picture to be taken.

"Ludwig," Feliciano cried, "you have to smile."

"Feli, I'm not really in the mood," he proclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, "shocker."

"Come on West, give us a smile," Gilbert put his fingers at the corners of Ludwig's mouth and perked them up.

I grinned, "Take the picture or else we're gonna be here all day." Feliciano nodded as the flash went off.

We walked back to the Spree River where the _Museumsinsel _stood, also known as Museum Island. The UNESCO World Heritage Site contained five museums, the Pergamon, Bode, Neues, Alte Nationalgalerie and Altes Museum.

We visited the Neues first where the bust of the Egyptian Queen of Nefertiti was on display. Several Egyptian artifacts were shown, like stone coffins and urns with the Egyptian gods faces crafted on the lids. Along with pieces of wall paintings with the iconic drawings and holographics, "I sure wish Gupta was here, he might be able to translate them," I said.

Gilbert scanned the room, making sure that we had a safe distance away from any humans that could listen in. He answered, "Probably, but don't expect him to know too much about it. He was just a kid when his mother's empire fell. After that he was taken in by Sadiq and was part of the Ottoman Empire."

I nodded, "Were you there when it happen?"

"Yes."

I lifted an eyebrow, "How old are you?"

He took a moment to think. "I was part of the Teutonic Knights and before that I was a nomad, wondering around till I was taken in by an orphanage run by some nuns. I'm thinking, somewhere between seven and eight hundred years."

"You were knight?" I asked skeptically of him.

"Most of us were back in _ye olden days_."

"Who was 'most of us'?"

"Let's see, Francis was one and Antonio, even though he used an axe most of the time. All of Europe really; even that bastard Lithuania." His face took on a sour look as the name passed through his lips.

"I'm guessing there's some bad blood between you two," I proclaimed.

He snorted, "You don't know the half of it."

"Then tell me, I want to know."

He mumbled under his breath and I narrowed my eyes at him, "fine, I'm in a museum, I can find it on my own."

After some twists and turns through the halls I was able to find the section assigned to the Teutonic Knights. The hall was empty, leaving Gilbert and me alone as I read every article that was displayed on the walls. These articles were placed beside polished armor, sturdy cross designed shields and sharp blades. I grinned when I came to a certain piece of written history. "You lost to Lithuania and Poland in 1410 stopping you from expanding east, ha. I'm really starting to like those two."

He rolled his eyes, "they might have been powerful back then, but now, heh. Poland would rather decorate than fight and Lithuania, he's pathetic; trembles every time someone even mentions Russia."

A cold chill washed over my spine. The memory of Toris and Ivan on the balcony came flooding back. The scene of Ivan holding Toris close as he forced an unwanted kiss on him. His blue-green eyes filled with horror and humiliation.

"Maybe for a good reason," I said, refusing to look at Gilbert, "How about you stop being a sore loser and shut up."

I practically heard him smirk, "I'm not being a sore loser. I'm merely speaking the truth."

Then the memory of Toris trembling in the secret passage way came next; how he refused to look at me as he gave me a vague description about his time at Russia's house. I didn't push for details back then, it seemed too painful and frankly I didn't want to know.

"Then just shut up, you don't know what went down," I glared.

His smile fell, "I actually do. At one point of my life I had to live with him. He was a sick fuck but I stayed strong. Lithuania on the other hand, did nothing. Just laid there and took it like a bitch."

I smacked my hand across his face. The echo of the hit bounced off the walls as he stepped back and rubbed his cheek. He took this as a cue to continue taunting me. "Aw, what's wrong did I crush your little fantasy about the mighty knight Lithuania?" He chuckled harshly, "sorry to disappoint you but the country was never the same after Russia had his way with him."

"At least he is a country," I hissed, "you are just some piece of shit left over from the Prussian Empire. Which doesn't even_ exist_ anymore, how about you get the memo and disappear already. You don't seem to offer anything but hurtful statements and stupid antics."

His blood red eyes took on a darker shade, "Listen little girl, you should learn to keep that mouth of yours shut."

"Oh, but I'm merely speaking the truth," I mocked him with his words. "You're an asshole and the world would be better off without you."

He laughed; it was filled with hate and anger. "Are you any better? America doesn't do much except sit on its big fat ass and expect everyone else to praise it. The only pride you can take, are the achievements of the past generations. What exactly can you offer?" He answered his own question, "_Nothing_."

I threw my fist, ready to land at his face but he grabbed it smoothly. I tried to pull away but his hold was strong. "Really, another face hit? I know it's been a week, but didn't you learn anything?"

I swung a fast kick to his side. He grunted and lost grip on my hand. "I didn't ask to be a nation!" I screamed. "All I wanted was to live my life; I didn't give a flying fuck about the government as long as I did what made me happy."

He sucker punched me and heat exploded through my cheek. The pain washed over my nose and forehead, causing my vision to blur. "Selfish, aren't you?" he said cruelly.

I cried out for him to shut up and tackled him to the floor.

* * *

"Would Ludwig Beilschmidt please come to the security office of the Neues Museum please," a male voice proclaimed over the intercom.

Ludwig knitted his eyebrows together in confusion and worry. Why would security need to see him? Then a thought came to mind, he hasn't seen America and his brother for over an hour; he prayed that this incident didn't have anything to do with them. But knowing his luck and his brother, his prayers would be wasted.

And he was right.

He and Feliciano walked to the head desk of security, where a man dressed in a formal navy blue uniform was lecturing two young adults. Both had bruises on their faces and their wrists were tied together with plastic cuffs. Gilbert's right eye was slightly swollen and his nose was once again broken. Amy's foundation was running, revealing her old wounds along with the new.

Ludwig sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose and walked to the desk. "I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt."

The security guard turned to face him. He was middle aged with graying hair and hazel eyes. "Hello Mr. Beilschmidt," they shook hands as the guard gestured towards Amy and Gilbert. "They say they're with you."

"Yes, they are." Ludwig glared at them, but his look quickly softens when he faced the security guard. "What did they do?"

"They were fighting in the Teutonic Knight hall, luckily they didn't damage any of the artifacts but still," he side glanced to them. "I believe that it's best that you and your party leave."

Feliciano's mouth opened, about to protest, but Ludwig stopped him with a firm look. The German turned back to the guard, "I understand. I am terribly sorry for the trouble they have caused."

The guard pulled apart the plastic cuffs, "you're free to go, keep in mind you two are banned from our museums."

Gilbert snorted softly, "for how long?"

"First time offenders are banned for six months," the guard proclaimed.

Amy rolled her eyes, "whatever."

* * *

The car ride back was quiet. Ludwig was driving his silver BMW with a tight hold on the wheel. Gilbert sat in the passenger seat, his face at the window. Feliciano sat behind him, nervously glancing at everyone, as if second guessing himself if he should speak or not. I turned to my window and plugged myself into my iPod, listening to Adele's 'Skyfall'.

I tapped my forehead to the glass and bit my bottom lip to hold back my cry. My head was throbbing, my jaw and cheeks were marked with fresh welts and my midsection was on fire from the recent marks I received from Gilbert.

I mentally cursed myself; I made a promise to not get into any trouble. Now I've screwed it up and got myself thrown out of Museum Island. And for what, all because Gilbert was being an ass; I thought I had tougher skin than that. I even had the combat wounds to prove it. But deep down I knew it wasn't all about me. His comments about Toris hit a nerve.

Gilbert didn't see the fear in Toris's eyes when we were at Austria's house. He also didn't see how brave he was when he came to my rescue. If what Gilbert was implying was true, (and I've seen enough _Law & Order SVU_ shows to figure out what he meant) then what Toris did took guts. I had to admire the guy for that, and I wasn't about to let a total jerk like Gilbert under mind that.

I smiled to myself, if only Michel could read my mind, he would be ranking in some points right now. I tried to laugh at my joke but my ribs ached every time I did.

Once we got to the manor, I leaped out of the car and speed walked to the doors. I still had to wait for Ludwig to unlock it, but I was ready to sprint up the stairs and lock myself in my room.

He slid the key into the lock and turned. I forced the door opened and headed for the stairs. I didn't get far. Ludwig grabbed my arm and pulled me back, "where do you think you're going?"

I sighed, defeated. "Listen, I know I screwed up. Just let me go to my room and I won't come out till Monday."

He shook his head, "That would be too easy."

I mumbled a curse and watched Gilbert as he tried to sneak away into the living room. Ludwig didn't even turn to face him, but he must've known his brother would try something. "Don't you even think about walking away," Ludwig pointed at Gilbert and he froze in place. He then turned to face his older brother, "What on earth possessed you to fight in the museum?"

Gilbert grumbled, "She started it."

"Is that your excuse?" Ludwig glared, "She's a child, you are hundreds of years old, act like it."

"Fat chance," I said under my breath.

"And you," he turned to face me. "What exactly we've you two fighting about?"

I exhaled through my nose, "He was being an ass so I slapped him."

He cursed in German as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "America, you have to control your anger. For when you're angry, you're irrational. And when you're irrational, you _will_ die on the battle field."

"Last I checked we're pretty durable," I remarked.

"Don't be a smart ass with me," he shouted.

His voice bounced off the walls causing Feliciano to flinch slightly. Ludwig continued, "Even though you're a nation, we can't have you dying then coming back to life every time you enter in a fire fight."

I shook my head, "Then how about we agree that I'm just not cut out for the military."

"You're a nation," he repeated harshly, "you're military is part of you, it is your strength, your will."

"Then why do I have to be part of it?"

He sighed, "Has anyone ever told you, a good soldier doesn't ask questions, simply follows orders."

"I don't know if you've noticed or listened but I'm not soldier material."

"Ain't that the truth," Gilbert commented.

"Shut up," Ludwig and I exclaimed in sync.

He turned back to me, "America, in times of war not only do your people fight; but you fight as well. Your people are a part of you, and what they do effects you. For a nation is nothing without its people."

"This is coming from the guy that represents the nation that killed thousands of his own citizens," I crossed my arms.

His brilliant blue eyes widened as the vein of his forehead throbbed. I've gone too far, but I was too irritated with his superior attitude towards me to even care.

"Maybe it's a good thing I question you," I should've kept my mouth shut, but like Gilbert said, I don't seem to have that alarm in my head that says 'shut up' when I needed it. "It proves that I have freaking mind of my own, unlike you. And maybe, just maybe if you bothered to question authority, you and this entire country wouldn't have been swept away by some charismatic psychopath-"

Ludwig slapped me across the face.

Feliciano gasped as the air grew silent. My cheek was once again on fire but I refused to show any reaction. I said nothing, only glared as he placed his hand to his side in a tight fist and walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

I watched as the afternoon sky faded into twilight and washed away into dusk. Stars were beginning to shine through the violet and the air was beginning to chill. I had watched this scene through the windows of my room. I was on the bed with my legs curled to my chest as my chin rested on my knees. I haven't moved from that spot since the incident with Ludwig.

My mind quickly replayed our argument with the ending of his slap to my face. No matter how many times he or Gilbert punched or kicked my face that slap still stung.

I closed my eyes, hoping it would erase the memory and pain, but it didn't. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hiding. I couldn't bear to face Ludwig or anyone for that matter. My iPod was connected to my portable speaker and the song 'Born To Die' from Lana Del Rey played softly.

My eyes opened and glanced to my grandfather's journal on the nightstand. I needed a distraction and so far this was best I could get. (There wasn't a television in my room.) I grabbed it and skimmed through the pages. I stopped at the second entry, two years after his first meeting with Alfred.

* * *

_June 29, 1957_

_The life I knew was gone._

_In the past few days, I have dealt with more heartbreak and loss than anyone should be put through in their lifetime. _

_It all started two days ago, my family and I were crossing from Indiana to Illinois. Heavy rain was coming down as my brothers and I listened to the radio. Hurricane Audrey had touched Louisiana hours ago and was making its way through the south and east of the country. It even spawned two ____tornados_ further up Louisiana and multiple ___tornados_ were reported in Mississippi and Alabama. Flash flood warnings were in effect in the Midwest and it was advised for everyone to get off the roads.

"_Father," I walked over to my parents who were sitting in the front seats of our worn RV. "The weather man says that there's a flash flood warning. We need to get off the road."_

"_That's what I am doing," he answered calmly. "Where's the closest town?" he asked Mother._

_She shook out her map and squinted at the roads between the states. "We're on highway 150 right now; luckily we're close to Paris, Illinois. We'll be there in less than two hours."_

_I sat in the booth next to the window, the storm was howling and the rain was hitting the RV, making the impression that stones were being thrown at us. My brothers sat in front of me, Tristen was the oldest by four years, Clay by two. We all looked so alike. We all had long raven black hair, dark eyes and copper skin. We were long, lean and well-muscled. Only small differences gave us away. Clay was the tallest at 6'2 he received that height advantage from our mother's side. Tristen had the hard features of our father while Clay and I took our looks from our grandmother on Mother's side._

_We were heading to Illinois for Tristen's wedding. The woman he was marrying was a childhood friend named Rose Shay. She was a decedent of the Illini tribe that mixed with the Miami. She and her parents had left a week earlier to meet their extended family in Chicago. The other members of our tribe stayed behind in Indiana and I'm glad they did. This storm was too dangerous. _

_For some stupid reason, we were trying to get to Chicago before July. But it can't be done. When it came to the safety of our family I would've-should've forced us to stop and wait it out. But I didn't and that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life._

_After an hour, the rain only got worst. Father had a hard time seeing anything in the distance and Mother kept looking at the map like it would actually change anything. My anxiety grew, "Father, we need to stop, now-"_

_My words were cut off when Father crashed into a sign that said 'Bridge Closed'. Water overwhelmed the tires and we skidded into a overflowing river. Father tried to control the RV but he only made it worse by trying to turn. The added force of the water tipped us over on the RV's left side. The window my brothers and I were sitting at; shattered as we hit the bridge's pavement. Tristen had gripped on to Clay's shirt holding him in place as he used his other had to grip the table. I had hooked my arm around the booth as my legs dangled off towards the broken window. We didn't have long to catch our breath. The water came in quickly, filling the RV half way in under a minute._

_Mother cried out to Father, but he didn't respond. Father's head had made full contact to his window. Blood mixed as Father disappeared into the dirty brown water. Mother cried and unbuckled herself from her seat. She dove for him and pulled him to the surface. She shook him by the shoulders but he wasn't breathing. Tristen called for Clay to help him with the door. I turned to Mother as she tried in failed attempts to revive Father. _

_I walked over and checked his pulse, I felt nothing. "Mother," I said, "he's gone. We have to go."_

_She cried 'no' several times as I pulled her away from Father. Once the door was opened, Clay lifted himself up, Tristen and I lifted Mother up next and we followed soon after. The wind howled causing the RV's door to shut and the rain to fall harder, piercing my skin like bullets. _

_Mother wept as Clay held her; she was so small at that moment she looked like a frighten child. But truthfully none of us had time to grieve. The water was rising and we were losing more of the RV's surface to stand on. At that moment, I remembered the CB radio we had on the dash board. _

_I tried to open the door, but Tristen stopped me. "What are you doing?!"_

"_There's a CB radio in there," I exclaimed, "we can try and call for help."_

_Tristen didn't argue with me for long, he told Clay to stay with Mother as we climbed back into the RV to get to the radio. We had to move fast, the water was rising and we had no idea how long the radio would last. _

_I swam to the dash board, avoiding my father's body and grabbed the radio from the dock. "Hello?! Anyone on?!" All I got was static, but I kept trying. "My family and I are trapped on some bridge near Paris. Our RV tipped over and we're taking in water." I stopped to listen if someone heard me, but no answer came. "Please, the water's rising and it's too dangerous to try and swim out of this." I stopped to listen; I was met with static once again. I became desperate. "We need help! Someone, please, send help-"_

_Mother screamed as a wave crashed against the RV and a large splash hit the water. Tristen and I abandoned the radio and climbed back out to find Mother and Clay gone. I rose to my feet to look for them but slipped and fell into the rushing rapids. _

_I caught my breath and swam back to the surface. I spotted Tristen driving in, swimming hastily to meet me. He caught me by the arm as the water pushed us off the bridge and sent us down the river. We struggled to keep our heads above the surface, the water was coming in too fast and we were using all our strength to keep from crashing against the rocks. During this, Tristen never once lost his grip on me._

_This sequence of events lasted for another minute or so, till Tristen grabbed a tree root that had been ripped out of the ground. He pulled me by my shirt and instructed me to hold on. I wrapped my arms around the root that was closer to the tree trunk while Tristen took the thinner part of the root. The river pushed at us but we hanged on till the force of the rapids caused the root to snap in two and Tristen was swept away by the river._

_It all happened so fast._

_I wasn't quick enough to catch him and worse, I was too much of a coward to follow him, to save him._

_I cried out for him, for Clay, for Mother till my voice became hoarse and the storm finally came to its end._

_Later, the rain stopped, the river had settled, but my arms were numb. I couldn't hold on any longer, I was slipping and I knew that if I fell in I wouldn't have the strength to swim._

"_Hello!" a voice called out, "Is anyone out there? Hello!"_

_Even though my voice was nearly gone, I forced myself to scream for help. A group of men rode over in a small orange life boat. A familiar voice exclaimed, "John?! John is that you?!" _

_I looked up to find a man with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. "Alfred. . ." My eyes closed as my limbs lost their remaining strength to hold on. All I remembered was sinking into the water and someone driving in to save me._

_I was out cold till I woke up in a hospital room. Alfred was sitting next to me, reading an old hard cover book. "What are you doing here?" I asked in a weak tone._

"_Long story," he proclaimed as he snapped the book closed. "Let's just say, I was in the right city at the right time." _

_I blinked and muttered, "Where are they?"_

_His brows knitted together in confusion and worry, "Who?"_

"_You know who," I hissed. "My mother, my brothers, where are they?!"_

_He sighed, "Johnny, we-we found them but," his looked away for a moment. Then he turned back to me with sympathetic eyes, "They didn't make it."_

_Silence filled the room as his words sunk in. I closed my eyes, "no," I mumbled. Alfred didn't answer only placed his hands on my shoulders to hold be me down as I tried to rise out of bed. "No," I exclaimed; then screamed, "No! Let me go! I need to see them! I need to see them with my own eyes!"_

_The nurses came in but Alfred told them to stay back. "They're gone Johnny, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

_My body fell back, defeated. The sound I made was of a wounded animal. I wept with wet tears and a dry throat. Alfred stepped back and gestured the nurses out of the room; leaving me alone to mourn my lost._

_Today was bright and sunny. It almost seemed like Hurricane Audrey had never happened, but the damages were there. Newspapers were sent quickly through the country, reporting the chaos. It tore up the boarder shores of Louisiana and Texas and a total number of twenty-three tornados were counted throughout Mississippi and Alabama. The flash flood here in Paris took ten lives, including my family's._

_Clay had told me once, 'that nature was as beautiful as she was deadly.' In other words, nature was a bitch._

_Alfred visited, even brought me breakfast. "Morning," he sang and sat down a small box of donuts. "I didn't know what you would like so I got one of each. Chocolate, glazed, jelly-filled, you're welcome," he grinned._

_I pushed the box away, "I'm not hungry."_

_He nodded and pulled out a worn journal from his jumper jacket. "We found the RV and Tyee," he said sadly. "Everything was destroyed, not much could be scrounged, but I did find this." He placed the journal down, the leather had turned a darker shade of brown and the paper was yellowed. "It took three hours with the hair dryer but I was able to save it. No wrinkles even, good thing you kept it in a secret appointment inside a trunk. But really, if you're going to keep a journal about me, you gotta make sure it can't be found so easily."_

_I stayed silent, not bothering to answer him. _

_He continued, "I was also able to find these," he tossed some pictures on top of the journal. Three photographs, one of my parents, another of me and my brothers, and the last was a family portrait we took a year ago. "Keep them safe, they were the only ones I could find that weren't too damaged."_

_I looked away from the pictures. I couldn't bear to see their smiling faces, knowing I had lived and they didn't. The tears have finally dried; the only thing that was left was anger and guilt. _

"_You mean to tell me after all that, this survived._ This is it?!" _I exclaimed. "That RV was home, I grew up in it, my brothers grew up in it. My parents bought that RV together, years were spent there and more were to come. Tristen was gonna get married, Clay got accepted to Hampton and it was all taken from them."_

"_You should have left me there to riot," I hissed._

"_Why do you say that?" Alfred asked with blank expression._

_I glared, "I had nothing to offer. Tristen did. He saved me when I fell into the water, he didn't even hesitant. But when it was time to return the favor, I froze." I ground my teeth together, "I didn't even try to follow him; I just stayed there, like a damn coward." I inhaled and exhaled through my nose, "I should've forced Father to pull over, I should've tried to save Tristen, I should've-I should've died that night."_

"_Well, it's a good thing your human," before I could react, Alfred slammed me to the mattress and wrapped his hand around my throat. He squeezed, stopping the air flow. "You know what a real coward is?" he asked calmly, as if he wasn't crushing my jugular. "A real coward is someone that runs away from a life that could be more than this. This wasted self-pity, this self-loath, where will this get you?"_

_I crawled at his hand and face, but my attacks were useless. I choked out, "You. . . don't under-stand!" Gasp, "How could. . . a monster like-like you know how. . . I feel!" Gasp, "I lost. . . my entire family. . . in one night." Gasp. "You. . . will never. . . understand!"_

_He leaned down to touch his forehead to mine, "You weren't the only one to lose people that night. I lost over four hundred of my own," he tightened his grip. "I still hear their screams, their cries for help." He shook his head, "I tried to get there, but the storm flooded the only damn bridge out of Paris." His eyes glazed over, "but that's only an excuse. What good is an excuse? Nothing." He pushed himself off and removed his hand from my throat._

_I sat up, coughing as I tried to breath. Alfred's face carried an old soul gaze, which was a phase I learned from Mister Two Crow. 'Old in the eyes,' he always said, 'some people carry wisdom far beyond their years.'_

"_Your brother sacrificed his life for you. Don't let his death be in vain." He turned away from me and walked to the door. He opened it and stopped at the frame. "Live." He said as he faced me, "Live for the people that cannot, or if you still prefer not to, I'll end it for you."_

_Chills ran down my spine as he slammed the door behind him._

_For the last three hours, I've been writing; reliving the painful events that lead to my current situation. I had nothing to my name, no money, no proof of social security. What did I have to keep me here? Who did I have to keep me here? The tribe yes, but how could I face them. Every memory I had with them was always shared with a member of my family. I don't want them to pity me, to only take care of me because who my father was. For I don't deserve it; I took away Rose's life with Tristen. I took away Hampton from Clay and I took away my parent's lives._

_As I see it, I didn't listen to my gut feeling to stop. If only I didn't ignore my instincts, I would have been able to save them._

_I read the words that Alfred had said over and over again. He was right on one thing. Where was this self-loathing getting me? Was I going to take action on it or will I continue to sulk. The most ironic thing was, I didn't want to be pitied by the tribe, yet I pity myself. _

_What will I do?_

_What can I do?_

_I truly don't know._

_Luckily I didn't have to think about this for long. Alfred came strolling in with a big smile on his face, as if we didn't have a big fight just a few hours ago._

"_Get dress," he tossed me a backpack. "You're coming with me."_

"_Where are we going?" I asked._

"_Chicago," he answered and then proclaimed, "You're coming to live with me for a few days."_

* * *

The knocking at my door interrupted the flow of my reading. I sighed and rubbed my eyes; Grandpa never, and I mean _never_ spoke about what happened to his family. Whenever we asked, he would clam up and say, 'I lost them.' He didn't even tell his own son about them and I'm beginning to see why; it pained him too much.

But what really interested me was that there was more to Grandpa and Alfred's friendship than I had thought. Did Grandpa really take his offer to go live with him? If so, for how long? Also, how did Alfred keep that secret hidden from the nations?

These thoughts still cycled in my head as I rose from my seat and opened the door. Gilbert was waiting and I groaned, "What do you want?"

"Walk with me," he grabbed my arm and tugged me down the hall.

I protested and tried to shove him away, but his grip on me was strong. He continued to pull me down the stairs, out the door and onto the dirt driveway. I was finally able to jerk my arm away when we crossed the gate onto the gray brick sidewalk.

"What the hell man?" I asked, irritated.

"We need to talk," he said calmly.

"And we couldn't have done this inside?"

He sighed, "Come on," he gestured to the sidewalk.

My shoulders slumped; I knew I couldn't avoid this for long.

We walked together side by side, in silence. The air was cool, around to fifty-six to fifty-four degrees. Growing up in a town with the lows only reached the sixties; I wasn't prepared for the wind to pick up. The chill sent shivers down my spine. I crossed my arms to rub them, good thing I was wearing jeans.

"Are you cold?" Gilbert asked.

I nodded as he took off his red hoodie and draped it over my shoulders. I tensed and glanced to him. He kept walking, his back to me. He now only wore a black t-shirt with dark jeans and white tennis shoes. I gave a muffed thank you and slipped my arms through the sleeves and zipped myself up.

I caught up with him and stayed by his side. I looked up to the sky; the stars were blazing against the darkness of the atmosphere. My thoughts went back to Grandpa's most recent entry; of the people he lost. I inhaled through my nose, he had once told me, when something dies their body would be consumed by the earth and their soul would be taken to the stars. So even when they weren't here physically; they would always be _here_, even when I can't see them. I looked down to Grandpa's ring and smiled.

"What's with the bird ring?" Gilbert asked as he looked over my shoulder.

"It isn't a bird, it's a hawk." I answered with a gentle tone. "It belonged to my grandfather."

"Why are you wearing it?"

"To honor his memory," I said.

"Now, your grandfather, was he the man that Alfred knew for over sixty years?"

I nodded, "yes, they met when he was sixteen, but Grandpa saw him for the first time when he was seven. Alfred was following his tribe for months after World War II."

His eyebrows knitted together in curiosity, "why?"

"He said that he discovered a different side of himself and that he needed guidance."

Gilbert nodded in understanding, "_Ja_, that war changed everything."

I sighed, "Gilbert, I'm-"

"Don't," he said, "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"Yeah, I do. I hit you-"

"But I taunted you; it's like mocking a wild animal. I brought it on myself. But I have to say," he smirked, "you have killer left hook."

I gave a soft laugh as I touched my face, "I can tell you the same thing."

He grinned and we continued along the sidewalk. He was quiet till: "tell me, what do you know of the war?"

I closed my eyes for a minute before answering. "It all started when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. The war then lasted from 1939 to 1945, during these years he took control over most of Western Europe and even tried to take Russia, but because of bogus science the Germans invaded during winter. That pretty much screwed themselves over. Also with the added help with the Americans to the Allies, they took down Italy, Germany's longest and most trusted ally. Then the A-bomb came into play and destroyed Japan. Hitler comments suicide and Germany surrenders."

"That's a nice summary of the worst six years of our lives," Gilbert proclaimed sarcastically.

"If you want me to get into it, I can. Christopher made sure this was drilled into my brain since I was twelve."

"Christopher? Oh he was your British tutor, _ja_?"

"Yup, he's really passionate about history and it only increased when he discovered I was a nation."

"It's easy to be passionate about something you were never there to witness." The light in his eyes dimmed. We walked for another minute or two in silence till Gilbert said, "Did you know Hitler wanted to be an artist?"

I nodded, "yeah, but he was rejected by both the art school and the architecture school."

"How do you think he got so interested in politics?" He didn't expect me to answer. I remained quiet as he continued, "Around this time, West was living in my shadow. He wanted to prove that he was strong nation on his own. But no one really took him seriously and I will admit I still saw him as my kid brother." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"He would go out drinking and one night he met a defeated artist that was run down on his luck. They bonded over their shared love of good beer and dreams to leave their mark on the world. After both had served in the First World War, they had watched as their country was hit by a crushing economic system and was sunk in debt to France.

"One had ideas to better the country, to pull them out of their depression. The other said, 'prove it.'"

I connected the dots, "Ludwig encouraged Hitler to get into politics," I said slowly, letting the dreadful words sink in. Gilbert stood quiet, with a blank expression on his face. I leaned against a neighbor's wall, "Oh my god. And after what I said," I closed my eyes, "I'm an insensitive ass."

Gilbert didn't say a word to my statement, only finished his tale. "Ludwig and Adolf were friends. Both influenced one another; one more than the other. In the end, one betrayed the other." His eyes grew sad, "Ludwig trusted him, with everything and he continues to bear the scars."

"But it's not his fault," I remarked, "Hitler fooled everyone, he kept his hatred for the Jews a secret so he can have the chance to brainwash everyone into believing what he was doing was okay. Ludwig was played, Germany was played, it's-it's-"

"Yet Ludwig was the one that pushed him toward it."

I snorted, "Hitler didn't need anyone to tell him what to do. A man like that wanted power, it wouldn't have made a difference."

He sighed, "But Ludwig thinks so. He believes it's his fault that the war started, even to this day."

I blinked back frustrated tears, "but it wasn't."

"You think I haven't told him that," Gilbert said sadly. "He just won't let go of it, he will continue to carry the guilt. No matter how many times Feliciano, Kiku and I forgive him," he sighed. "He'll always blame himself."

"I have to apologize."

"He won't take it. As he sees it, you were right."

"Still, I need to say it."

He was quiet till he said, "Are you only doing it to lessen _your_ guilt?"

I shook my head, "No. It's all for him, and if he won't take it. Then I'll work my ass off for him. As I see it, he's taking time out of his schedule to train me, the least I can do, is give him my all."

Gilbert gave a small smile and in one swift move, pulled me to his side with his arm around my shoulders. "You know, you're smarter than you look."

I shoved him playfully, "screw you."

* * *

During our walk around the island, we tried to lessen the tension of our previous discussion. We talked about random subjects; from favorite bands and genres of music to books and movies. When we reached the manor, Gilbert unlocked the door and I strolled in, heading straight to Ludwig's room. His room was on the first floor through a hall in between the kitchen and dining room. Gilbert had said that his room was on the left, while his brother's was on the right.

I heard muffed sounds as I got closer to Ludwig's room. His door was slightly ajar and the sounds were getting louder. My curiosity got the best of me and I peeked through the thin opening.

I found Ludwig and Feliciano on the bed, naked and kissing each other. Ludwig was on top and he seemed to be moving. Feliciano was under him with his arms hooked around Ludwig's neck. Both were sweaty with a light pink blush spreading from cheek to cheek. Feliciano's on the other hand had a darker blush than his partner's. They were panting, moaning, and mumbling soft words to each other.

My jaw dropped.

Before my voice could make a sound; I stepped back with my hand over my mouth and speed walked into the kitchen.

"That was quick," Gilbert said as he brought out raw sausage from the fringe and placed it on a frying pan. "How did it go?"

My cheeks and ears grew in heat. "Fine," I choked, my voice was unusually high and I cleared my throat before I spoke again. "He took it just fine."

"Why are you red?" he asked as he placed a hand on my forehead. "Are you sick?"

I stepped back, "Nah, I'm good, I'm good." I looked everywhere but his eyes.

"Amy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I snapped.

He crossed his arms and waited.

I sighed, "I-I," I took another deep breath, "I saw Ludwig and Feliciano together."

Gilbert lifted a brow, "and?"

"They were _together_, _together,_" I whispered.

"Oh, you saw them fucking each other," he proclaimed. "That isn't anything new, _liebe_."

I was stunned, "but I thought Feliciano was into girls?"

"He is, so is West. All the nations roll both ways _liebste_. Let's just say when you live for couple of decades you forget the gender and focus on the person."

I nodded in understanding, "oh."

He grinned, "You should've seen your face," he pinched both of my cheeks. "You were blushing like a virgin."

I turned a deeper shade of red and Gilbert's eyes widened. "Oh don't tell me. Are you a virgin?" I stayed quiet and glanced to the floor, avoiding his analyzing gaze. My cheeks were on fire and I gripped the hem of the hoodie to control my nerves. "You are," he chuckled, "and you saw them-" he howled in laughter. "This is priceless, this is absolutely priceless."

"Can we just drop it, please," I exclaimed.

"Drop what?"

Gilbert and I turned to find Ludwig and Feliciano walking into the kitchen. Both were fully dressed in casual clothing and seemed to be perfectly normal. I couldn't look either of them in the eyes, "nothing," I mumbled.

Ludwig moved closer to look at my face, "why are you red? Do you have a fever?"

I jumped back, "no I don't."

"Oh, she's not sick," Gilbert smiled mischievously. "Little America just witnessed something that shook her to her core," he draped his arm around my shoulders and placed his cheek beside mine. "She's right now trying to process it."

"Gil, I swear to god I'm going to punch you."

Ludwig glanced between me and his brother, "what exactly is going on with you two?"

Gilbert answered, tired with his game. "She saw you two having sex."

Ludwig's eyes widened as his face burned with a bright red blush.

Feliciano frowned in disappointment, "you should've joined."

"Feli!" Ludwig exclaimed as I covered my face with my hands and Gilbert banged his fist on the counter, laughing his ass off.

Dinner was awkward that night but over time we found the situation hilarious. Feliciano had made pasta with tomato sauce and cuts of sausage in it. I couldn't help but notice the pun of Italian pasta being mixed together with German sausage. Of course Gil noticed and threw this fact at me and Ludwig, mostly because he wanted to see us blush. Feliciano on the other hand, didn't care, will to be honest he never really got the joke in the first place. Ludwig and I said our apologies and Gilbert continued to make jokes about my virginity. That usually ended with me slapping him over his head.

At the end of our meal, Gilbert brought out a large bottle of beer and poured me a glass. "To help you forget," he proclaimed.

"I think it's gonna take more than one glass," I swallowed a few gulps and the liquor burned as it went down my throat. I made a face of disgust as I slammed the glass back down on the table.

He chuckled, "Can't handle your beer little girl?"

I cleared my throat, "yes, it's just stronger than I thought it would be."

"It isn't American beer," Ludwig commented as he took a swing from his glass.

I took a deep breath before I drank the rest of my beer and pushed my glass towards Gilbert. "Give me another," I grinned and he happily obliged.

The night became a blur and I found myself walking up on the couch in the living room. My eyes were sensitive to the morning sun and it felt like jackhammer was pounding into my skull. I groaned as I rubbed my temples and tried not to think about throwing up.

Gilbert was passed out on the table beside me and I felt something warm behind me. I turned to find Feliciano sleeping in his birthday suit. I jumped off and checked if my clothes were on. I sighed in relief when I felt my pants and shirt on my skin.

My eyes subconsciously looked to Feliciano's body. His skin was a shade of light tannish brown and his body was smooth and scrawny. He was surprising thin for someone that can eat bowl after bowl of pasta. But was I really one to talk; I was addicted to chocolate and I never seem to gain a pound. _You know, there's perks to being a nation._

I pulled a blanket off the arm of the couch and covered him from shoulder to toes.

"Sorry about him, he always does that," Ludwig said as he walked in.

"When he's drunk," I proclaimed.

"No, when he goes to bed," he sighed, "he sleeps in the nude."

I nodded, "okay, that's. . . interesting," I said uncertainly.

"Here," Ludwig gave me a cup filled with green fluid, "drink."

"What is it?"

"Just drink it; it will make you feel better."

I glanced to him and took the cup. I placed it to my lips and nearly spit it out. Ludwig then snatched the cup and pulled my hair down, forcing the foul liquid down my throat. After I swallowed every drop he stepped back as I coughed and made gagging noises.

"What the fuck was that?!"

"You don't want to know," he said, "but don't you feel better?"

I sat back on the couch, making sure I avoided hitting Feliciano. My eyes stopped stinging and the limbs of my body were beginning to relax. My head wasn't even splitting in two anymore, "yeah, is that some kind of miracle hangover cure?"

He nodded as he sat beside me, "you can say that."

I rubbed my eyes, "What happen last night?"

"We drank, we danced and I believe we had karaoke contest."

"Oh right now I remember." I giggled, "Gilbert and me totally killed it when we sang 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalea."

Ludwig shook his head, "if you say so."

"Oh shut up."

We shared a couple of laughs till I sighed, "Did I apologize for what I said yesterday."

"Yes, but what you said-"

"Don't," I warned. "Just shut up and take my apology. And if that's not enough for you then I'm gonna make you a promise. From now on when we train, I will give it my all and follow whatever you say."

His eyebrow lifted in humor, "and no complaining?"

I snorted, "yeah, no. Can't promise that, but I can promise you the rest."

He looked away to hide his smile, but I was able to catch it before he did. He rose to his feet, "Then I suggest you rest today, for tomorrow I will break your spirit."

I rolled my eyes, "good luck with that."


	6. Chapter 6

Eight days passed and training continued as usual.

Laps were run every morning, weight and stance training was every mid-morning to noon, combat training was every afternoon and classes were held every evening. The very first week was definitely the hardest, but I quickly grew use to the routine and the bruises were fading at a faster rate. And I will say this, I'm getting pretty good at fighting; somewhat.

Ludwig flipped me over his back, sending me to the pat for the tenth time that Tuesday afternoon.

"Ow," I groaned.

He sighed, "Well at least you're lasting longer."

I sat up, "Are you saying I'm approving," I grinned.

He gave a small smile, "somewhat."

"I'll take it!"

"Hey West," Gilbert called as he came down the stairs, "maybe you should end the training for today. You two have to get up early for the meeting tomorrow; you might as well take the rest of the day to relax."

"No," Ludwig proclaimed, "The next four days will already be cut in half, today will be the only full day of training till next week."

"I know I promised to follow your orders and all," I said, "but I would really like today to be a half day."

"We can't, the next three days will be for the G9 meeting, then after that will be Saturday. We need today. We cannot break schedule," he lectured.

"Just this once," I bat my eyes at him, "please."

"No."

I didn't give up. "Pretty please, with sugar on top."

He wasn't fazed, "No. Now give me fifty burpees on the spot. That's what you get for wasting my time."

I groaned and rose to my feet. I dropped to do a push up, then rose again to jump in the air and repeated for fifty times. Truthfully I did more than that. Ludwig wouldn't count the ones I half assed at.

* * *

Evening came along with a fresh bowl of pasta for dinner.

I groaned, "spaghetti, again?" I looked to Feliciano.

He slurped down a few stands of pasta, "Pasta is good for the soul."

"Feli, I love you but I think you have a problem."

He stopped eating to stare at me, "did you just say you love me?"

"I guess."

He rose from his seat and ran around the table to hug me. "I love you too."

"Oh the feels," I patted him on the back.

"Give her a kiss, Feli," Gilbert smirked.

Feliciano passed me a hopeful look and I glared at him. "You know what happen the last time, do you want it to repeat?"

He stepped back and whispered, "No."

I nodded, "Good boy."

"Ah, come on now Amy," Gilbert chuckled, "Give the boy a kiss."

"How about you kiss him," I remarked.

"I already did, several times actually."

I gave him a look and turned to Ludwig, he was still eating. "Did you not hear him?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"You knew about it?"

"Yes."

"But, I thought," I glanced to Feliciano, to Gilbert and finally back to Ludwig. "You know what, I don't want to know."

"It's actually a wonderful tale," Gilbert proclaimed, "it all started-"

I slammed my hands over my ears. "La, la, la, I can't hear you! La, la, la, la."

"I swear, all of you gonna drive me to drink," Ludwig sighed.

"I think that ship has sailed, brother." Gilbert smirked and swallowed his beer.

* * *

Classes were quick and I was able to have time to use Ludwig's computer to skype with my parents. It was eight-thirty at night here, meaning it would be noon in Summerland. I had to download skype and it was one of the older models for Ludwig's computer hasn't been upgraded since 2011. Thank god, he at least had a web cam.

I login into my skype account and pressed the call button for our home computer. I was answered by Alyce, Roman, and Lali, "Aunt Amy!" They cried out happily as Roman ran out of the shot, calling out to everyone in the house.

Everyone gathered around the computer. My parents sat in chairs in front of the screen. Lali sat on Mom's lap while Blake sat on Dad's. Alyce and Gael squeezed in between them while Blair, Valencia and Roman stood by their sides. Melissa and Sanjay stood in the back with our cousins.

"How's Germany?" Sanjay asked.

"Did you see the Berlin Wall?" Alyce asked.

"Are you eating right?" Mom asked; worriedly.

"Where's my present?" Valencia asked.

I laughed, "The country is really mild, good weather. The Berlin Wall is epic and I have pictures, I sent them through my email. I'll give you the address and password to see them. And yes Mom I'm eating, a lot of sausage and pasta. And Valencia, I know your birthday passed, but I'm just waiting for you guys to get back home, so that way you'll be there to get it."

Valencia pouted as Mom questioned, "Sausage and pasta? That's all you've been eating?"

"Believe me Mom; I would give anything right now to have your enchiladas."

We talked for over an hour, answering questions and confirming when our cousins would arrive in Texas. I've told them about my so-called two year program. My second cousins only knew that I was traveling for college credit, which wasn't an all-out lie. They just didn't need to know that I was training to join the US army and that I was living with nations, to learn how to me a nation. It seemed a_ little_ too complicated.

Ludwig knocked on the door frame, "It's twenty minutes till lights out," he warned.

I nodded and turned back to the screen to say my goodbyes. Once I login out and turned off the computer, I ran up the stairs to take a quick shower and dress for bed. I fell into bed and wrapped myself in the blankets. Someone knocked at my door and I said, "Come in."

It was Ludwig, "Lights out America, you have busy day tomorrow."

"What? You not gonna tuck me in and read me a bed time story?" I teased.

He shook his head, "You are not a child."

"What are you saying? You've called me child several times. I mean if I had a dime every time you called me a child; I would have dollar. I think, I don't know. I'm not that good at math."

"I know, I've seen you test scores."

"Hey now that sounded insulting," I narrowed my eyes at him.

He forced himself not to smile, "Go to bed America."

"Why do you keep calling me that? Gil calls me Amy, so does Feliciano, why don't you?" I asked curiosity.

"You need to get used to it, and you have to start calling me Germany."

"It just seems weird. You're Ludwig, I'm Amy. It just clicks better with me than Germany and America."

"But Amy is not your real name; America is. We as nations must put our country above our personal ideals. Our human names are used for the public and only the public." His stare was unwavering, "We are nations before we are human."

I subconsciously glanced to Grandpa's journal on the nightstand before I turned to face him. "I would like to think it's the other way around. Like you said, the people are what make a nation and the people are human, so wouldn't we be at least a little bit human."

He took a moment before answering, "Maybe so." He turned off the lights, "goodnight," and paused before he said, "Amy."

I grinned, "Goodnight Germany."

Once he closed the door, I waited for his footsteps to fade till I grabbed Grandpa's journal and a flashlight and hid myself under the covers. I skimmed through till I found where I left off.

* * *

_I protested but Alfred would only counter with, "you need to see Rose, you have to tell her about Tristen."_

_I knew he was right, but I didn't want to go and stay with the man. He believes he's over 200 years old and thinks himself as America. He's insane. But what was even worse, I'm starting to believe him. That monstrous strength, that faraway gaze, whatever he is, he certainly isn't human._

_But as I looked at the urns of my former parents and brothers, I knew I had to put them to rest. Tristen would want his remains to be with the love of his life. I also didn't have any other way to get to Chicago, so I took Alfred on his offer._

_We drove in silence, well I was quiet. Alfred kept trying to make small talk with me but I pretended to be asleep to ignore him. The drive was short, about three to four hours, and when we reached the city he took me north. He stopped the car in front of two story red-brown brick building._

"_This seems pretty big for one person," I remarked._

"_Did I hear the wind," Alfred looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. He faced me with a fake confused look, "oh were you talking to me?"_

"_Funny," I hissed and climbed out of the car._

_He followed, "This isn't just me living here. There's Ms. Clare, she lives on the second floor while I live on the first. They're flats; both floors have two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and a small living room."_

"_It doesn't look that big," I said._

"_It's just narrow, but believe me all the room is in the length not the width," he smiled and opened the door. It led to a small narrow hall with a small stair case that led to one door at the top. While on the bottom floor there were two doors, one on the far right and another on the left, under the stair case._

_As Alfred closed the door, the top door opened and four cats came running. The cats mewed as they wrapped themselves around Alfred's legs. An old woman walked down the stairs but stopped when she saw us. "Alfred, you're home, its good see you," she smiled._

_He bent down to scoop up a large brown tabby cat, "Thank you Ms. Clare, by the way, you look great, have you been doing something new with your hair?"_

"_Oh Alfred stop being such a charmer, save it for a nice young lady."_

_He nodded and made kissing noises to the cat in his arms, "yes ma'am."_

_The woman looked to me, "who is this?"_

"_A friend of mine," he stated, "he gonna stay with me for a bit."_

_She gave me an uncertain gaze, she was white and I was native. Of course, she must be scared to death for having a savage Indian living under the same roof. She must think I'll scalp her in her sleep. These thoughts were running through my head at that moment, but stopped when an old, long haired Main Coon began to rub up against my leg._

_I slowly fell to one knee and scratched the cat under the chin. The cat purred and rubbed his nose and head into my palm for more._

"_Wow, Walter likes you. He never likes strangers; he scratched me the first time we met." Alfred proclaimed._

_I glanced up to Ms. Clare; her uncertain look had relaxed into one of general friendliness. "What's your name?"_

"_John," I said, "John Hawkfeather."_

"_Are you originally from Chicago?"_

"_No, I was born in New Mexico, but I've traveled around the country since I was small."_

"_Is it your first time in our city?"_

"_I've been here once, when I was eight."_

_She smiled, "well enjoy yourself." She turned to Alfred, "And you, stop eating out, it's unhealthy."_

_He nodded and sat the cat down, "Don't worry Ms. Clare, I'll start cooking at home."_

"_No, you should get yourself a wife."_

"_I know, I'll get right on that." He unlocked his door and gestured me to walk in. Once he closed the door, he sighed, "If only it was that simple."_

"_She seems nice," I said as I looked around. Like Alfred said, the flat was all in the length. The living room was in front with three windows wrapped around in a tower design. Farther down was the kitchen, it was small and quaint. Then there were two doors behind that and a door across from the kitchen._

"_Yeah, she's a sweet old woman, tries to get me to date her granddaughter, but still sweet." He then gave me a short tour, mostly just informing me that my room will be on the right while his was on the left. The bathroom was across the kitchen and he'll make me a key later tomorrow. He then asked what I wanted for dinner, but I wasn't hungry. I only wanted to go to bed. _

_Alfred simply nodded and helped me with my family's urns from the car to my room. I sat them on the work desk; luckily they were labeled, for all four were the same small, gold painted vases._

_I sat on the bed and stared at was once my family._

* * *

That was the end of the second entry. Soft tears fell down my cheek, my grandfather was never good with sharing his feelings and I wished just once that he told me about this. A journal can only do so much.

I wiped my tears and placed the journal back on the nightstand and switched off the flashlight. I laid in bed watching the view out my window. The moonlight had cut through, shadowing my dream catcher that was hanging in front. The net was in perfect alignment with the room, allowing the shadows of the tiny wooden animal sculptures to spread around the walls and floor. They no longer looked peaceful and stiff. They seemed to dance and looked almost, frightening.

The child within me wanted to bolt and crawl into either Gilbert or Ludwig's bed, to escape from the scary creatures. Then I realized that would be stupid and I would be pretty much asking for them to take advantage of me or hold this over my head for life. (Well mostly Gilbert, Ludwig would pretty much lecture me.)

Instead of running to them, I buried myself in the blankets and slept while clutching Grandpa's ring.

* * *

The next morning was bright and sunny. I had dressed in a new suit that was given to me by my parents. It was black with a white blouse underneath the jacket. I wore a matching pencil skirt, panty-hoes and a pair of simple half inch black heels. I combed my hair with styling oil, taming my curls to be at least presentable. My bruises had faded and my skin was smooth and unmarked. I applied some light eyeliner, two coats of mascara and Shea butter lip gloss.

I slipped my phone into my jacket's pocket and my ID into the other. I sighed and shook out my shoulders, "you can do this," I said to my reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Just observe, don't say anything unless spoken to and if you do please avoid using cuss words and insulting other people." I stared at myself, "yeah, I'm screwed."

"America," Ludwig called from the first floor, "come down for breakfast."

"Coming," I exclaimed and ran down the stairs.

"Where's your brief case?" he asked.

I blinked, "do I need one?"

"Well yes, how are you going to keep notes? I know you are only watching and not presenting anything, but you need to make notes on how we display our issues and how we speak to one another," he lectured.

"You mean like a speech?" I lifted an eyebrow at him, "Dude I took speech in school, I know how to talk to an audience and make a PowerPoint."

"There's more to it than that," Ludwig stated.

I rolled eyes, "I'll make sure to take notes on my phone Mr. Beilschmidt."

He snorted, "I wasn't born yesterday."

"Clearly," I mumbled.

"Here," he handed me a spiral notebook and pen.

"Yay," I said sarcastically.

After breakfast Ludwig, Feliciano and I climbed in the BMW. I buckled myself in and turned to find Gilbert waving goodbye. "Lucky bastard," I grumbled.

"What did you say?" Ludwig looked at me through the rear view mirror.

"Nothing," I sighed.

When we arrived at the Reichstag building, the roads were crowded and it seemed like we would never get a parking spot. We entered through the front door and showed our IDs to the security guards. Certain areas of the building were closed to public; obviously that was where the G9 meeting would be held. Only the bottom floor and dome was allowed for the public, the second floor belonged to us.

I followed Ludwig and Feliciano down a white tile hall with fancy, gothic designed podium walls and high ceilings. We walked up a flat of stairs to the second floor, the windows were smaller compared to ones downstairs but everything else was the same. When we arrived at a pair of large wooden doors, I was able to spot three blonds in the distance.

I perked up and ran down the hall to collide into Arthur, "Arthur!" He yelped as we fell to the floor. I sat up, sitting on his stomach and grinned, "Hi."

"Hi," he hissed in irritation, "would you mind getting off of me."

I giggled as Francis came from behind and helped to my feet, "well don't you know how to make an entrance."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave a quick peck on the cheek, "Francis it's good to see you."

He kissed my cheek in return, "The same to you _ma chérie_."

I moved along to the last blond, "Mattie," I cried happily as I held him tight, "I missed you." Matthew only nodded and patted my back.

Arthur picked himself off the floor and adjusted his suit jacket, "Well, that was un-lady like."

I lifted a brow at him, "do you not know me?"

Francis and Matthew laughed softly to my comment as I grinned and Arthur sighed, but his lips were tempted to smile.

"So how's your stay at Germany's house?" Francis asked.

"Ugh," I groaned, "its torture. He makes me run laps every day, in morning, noon and night. Then there are sit-ups, pushups, combat training where I'm left black and blue all over and he makes me do burpees! He's pure evil."

"Ahem," Ludwig stood behind me with his arms crossed.

"I mean," I turned around, "he's the greatest mentor anyone could ever ask for."

He narrowed his eyes at me and I sighed, "I'm doing burpees when we get back, aren't I?"

"Yes, yes you are."

"You westerners are so loud. I can hear you all from down the hall." Yao came walking from the hall on my right, beside him was Kiku.

"Hey Yao, hey Kiku," I greeted.

Yao knitted his brows together in annoyance while Kiku gave me an uncertain look. "America, we are alone, please use our country's name, not our human names."

_Well, doesn't someone have a stick up their ass_, I thought as I said, "sorry China, I'm still trying to get use to that." I nodded to Kiku, "Hello Japan."

"Good Morning America-san," he answered polity.

"It seems we're all here," that voice sent cold shivers down my spine. I looked back to the hall in front of me to find Ivan making his way towards us.

Everyone painted on a professional face as they official greeted one another. Ivan made sure to address me first, "Hello America," he held out his hand to me.

I swallowed my urge to kick him in the groin and shook his hand. "Hello Russia."

He gave an eerie smile and moved to kiss me on the cheek. I jumped back and opened the door the meeting room, "let's get started." I grabbed Arthur and Matthew and dragged them inside. I sat Arthur on my right and sat Matthew on my left. Francis followed and took his seat beside Arthur.

We sat at a round table, with Ludwig, Feliciano and Japan sitting next to one another as Yao and Ivan took the last seats.

"The first meeting of the G9 will now come to order," Ludwig announced.

* * *

For the last three hours we have discussed about economic drops, diseases that are in need of funding, a natural disaster that have caused a serve drought for farmers in east Europe and an escalation of crime.

I straightened myself up when Ludwig got to the topic of human trafficking. "It seems these child abductions have only gotten worse. Over three thousand children have been kidnaped and that's ones that have been reported. More street kids have been taken ranging in the ages of six to fifteen."

"You mean these kidnappings have all been done by the same group of people?" Yao asked.

Ludwig nodded, "seems so, we have tracked and busted over fifty other trafficking rings worldwide, but none of them seem to be connected this ring or the children that have been missing for the last five months."

"What makes this trafficking ring different from the others is that they are a worldwide organization and a perfectly functioning one at that." Arthur added, "They also seem to take a large amount of children in a short period of time."

"Aren't they using computers? Cell phones? Anything to stay in touch with one another?" Kiku questioned.

Matthew sighed, "Whatever they're using seems to avoid radio signals and phone towers. Somehow, they're taking kids but yet continue to stay off the grid. They use no credit cards, no rental cars, and no license boats. They avoid security cameras or for some strange reason cameras short circuit or shut off when a child is about to be taken."

We nodded in understanding; whoever these people are, they're technology was superior. They're devices blocked radio signals and satellites, no one can track them, not even the smartest, most experienced hackers. They are able to knock out power lines and cameras; one video even got on YouTube. It was a nanny cam that over looked a girl's room; she was seven years old and from the countryside of Britain. She was sleeping in her little princess bed when her camera shook and turned black. When the picture came into focus three hours later, the child was gone. Now of course there are devices that shut out radio signals, but only for a certain amount of time and cameras now days came with back up programs and second cameras hidden in the first, to capture what the first would miss. But whatever invention they used seems to shut down the program and the second camera.

They also can to hack into any security system, no matter how complicated the code was. They even took kids from different social classes; from the deepest depths of poverty to the highest ranks of society. When I meant the highest, I meant the top. Some of these kids came from families that have dinner parties and barbecues with NFL, NBA, and Major League players, politicians and billionaires too. These families could afford the most enhanced systems in the world, but yet this trafficking ring can break them like they were Intel software.

"This ring is twenty steps ahead us," Francis proclaimed. "Whenever we think we have a location, they find way to," he snapped his fingers, "disappear or send us on a wild goose chase."

"And they seem to take _only_ children," Yao added, "no adults at all."

"Well, children are weaker and easier to manipulate," said Ivan.

This discussion brought forth images of my nephews, niece, young cousins and the kids from the rec center; to think that any of them could be abducted and forced into. . . God, I couldn't even think about that.

"What's the plan?" I heard myself saying.

The nations turned to face me, "What do you mean?" Ludwig asked.

"What are we gonna do? Are we gonna follow a lead? Locate and interrogate one of the ring members?"

I was met with silence till Arthur sighed, "America we can't get involved with police matters, it could lead to our discovery."

I gave him a look, "seriously."

He sighed, "It's just how it is."

"So what's the point of sitting here and talking about it when we're not gonna do anything about it!"

"Sit down America," Ludwig exclaimed.

I inhaled deeply, "I need air. Can I please be excused?"

He nodded and I speed walked out the door. I leaned against the wall and sighed, "Great, Amy you almost lost it. But at least you didn't flip the table."

Stomping of footsteps came echoing down the hall as a pair of men ran towards me and skidded around the corner into the hall in front of me. I knew one of them, "Neill?!"

He was too focused on the man he was chasing to spare me a glance. But still, what the hell was he doing here in Berlin? I ran after him. They were a several feet ahead of me but thanks to all those laps with Ludwig, I was able to stay on their tail.

It wasn't long till Neill clutched a fist into the man's shirt and threw him to the wall. I slid to a stop and hid behind a wall column. I peeked to find Neill shaking the man and whispering harshly at him.

They hissed at one another and the man must have said something insulting, for Neill had punched him in the face. "Stop screwing with me! Where's Klipto Thas!"

"I will tell you nothing," the man hissed and shoved him aside. He tried to stand but Neill tackled him and wrestled him to the ground.

They struggled with one another till the man got the upper hand and grabbed at Neill's leather wristband, the dark brown one he always wore. The man smashed the wristband against the floor and it sparked with colorful blue lights. Neill hissed in pain as the band continued to short circuit. The man tried to run but Neill flipped out a long metal rod that was glowing with electrical currents and shocked him with a simple touch. He fell to the ground, twitching.

Neill panted, trying to fix his wristband but it only got worse as sparks flew and his image began to shake. Like when the picture of a TV shook, causing the image to blur. That's what was happening to Neill's form as his hair, clothes and body structure wavered and became see-through. Underneath this was a short, skinny body with silver-gray skin. The creature had a bald round head, it wore no clothes but it didn't seem like it needed them. It had no privates like humans did and looked like it was used to no clothing. It dragged the man back to the wall and pushed him in a sitting position. I was able to see the side of its face; it had a pointed chin, a small nose, no mouth and had big bug eyes the color of scarlet.

It was an alien.

I gasped and the alien snapped his head to face me. I froze in place, totally dumbstruck of the creature in front of me. Its face didn't really hold much in emotion but its eyes did get bigger and he spoke with no mouth. "Amy?" it questioned, but the sound didn't ring with Neill's Scottish accent. Instead its voice was high, almost girlish and carried no accent what's so ever.

I flinched as it used my name. It noticed and lifted its hands in surrender, "Amy, please stay calm."

In rapid movements, I placed a vase to the floor and lifted the podium that held that vase over my head. "Where's Neill you alien freak!" I swung the podium at him but missed when he weaved around my blows.

"I am Neill!"

"Bullshit!" I slammed the podium into its chest and sent him flying to the wall, opposite of the man it had knocked out beforehand. "You have ten seconds to tell me where he is or I'm going to beat you with this!" I lifted the podium over my head.

"I am Neill Shaw," it exclaimed, its voice fearful.

I was about to smash the podium over its head till it screamed, "Remember how you couldn't understand fractions?"

I stopped and stared at the alien. "What?"

"Yes, you couldn't understand how to add and subtract fractions, so we spent the day backing cupcakes to help you. I would quiz you on how many fractions you needed to add for the vegetable oil and water to make twelve dozen cupcakes. Remember we burnt the first batch and frosted the other batches with vanilla and chocolate icing."

My eyes widened as it recited the memory I shared with Neill. It continued, "And-and, when Chris, Laura and I traveled with you to Hawaii. I took you out star gazing and told you which stars were which. We stayed up all night till the sun rose. I carried you in my arms as I walked back to your grandparent's house, singing a lullaby to you."

I stared at it with a shocked look but I was still stubborn to believe it, "what was the song you sang to me?"

It removed its arms away from its head and looked up to me, "'Dream Angus'."

I exhaled and threw the podium to the side. My arms fell to my sides and I shook my head, "who are you? What are you?"

It rose to its feet, "I'm Neill Shaw, well that's the name I used as your tutor. My real name is Mykrutyszoni; but you're father called me Tony."

"Are you talking about Alfred?" I asked.

"Yes," it nodded.

I messaged my temples, "Alfred was friends with an alien?"

"Yes," it answered.

"Why?"

"He helped hide me from his government when I crashed into New Mexico in the summer of 1947. Through the years we grew close, causing me to have an excuse to come visit Earth more. But luckily for me, most of the outlaws I hunt down choose Earth to settle in."

"Hold on, hunt? Outlaws? _What are you?_"

"I'm an Alien Bounty Hunter; I work with the Universal Police Force to track and capture outlaws. I'm pretty much the only alien in the galaxy that actually knows this planet and all its unique qualities. But of course I only learned so much thanks to Alfred."

"Wait, you're telling me that Alfred was an Alien Bounty Hunter?"

"When I came to Earth looking for an outlaw, then yes," it confirmed.

I slapped my cheeks, "Okay Amy wake up now. This might be the most creative dream you ever had, but you gotta wake up now!"

"You're not dreaming," it said in a monotone.

"No, I have to be dreaming because this is just too much! I mean, first there were nations, then spirits and now aliens! What's next a damn a zombie apocalypse?!"

The window shattered as the man, who we thought was unconscious, busted through the glass. He landed with a thud and rose to his feet shakily. The alien ran to the window and cursed, "Fuck!" It lifted his arm to its face, the one that held a metal arm band (Neill's wristband). "Activate Clocking Disguise!"

The device sparked as little drills popped out and started fixing the band. A robotic voice proclaimed, "Repairs must be made. Please stand by."

"Abort repairs! Abort repairs!"

"Cannot abort, cannot abort," the robotic voice repeated.

It groaned and turned to face me, "Amy go after him!"

"What?! No! How about you go after him, oh great alien hunter?!"

"I really can't go out looking like this can I?" It gestured to its odd form, "If they reacted anyway like you did, they would have me strapped down on a dissecting table faster than you can say _Deutschmarks_!"

"Why do I have to?" I countered.

"Because he knows where Klipto is!"

"Who the hell is Klipto?!"

"He's the alien that's behind the child abductions for the last five months!"

My eyes widened in disbelief, "what?"

"Klipto has been kidnapping children around the world, planning to sell them to aliens across the galaxies. That alien," it pointed to the man that was running through the tourists, "knows where he is and when we know where Klipto is, we will know where the children are."

My thoughts were slurring but still I asked, "Why should I trust you? You've lied to me the entire time I've known you."

"I'm not the only one; you've family did the same."

"Touché," I remarked coldly and turned to the man (hash-tag: alien) running around the building, most likely heading for the Spree River. He was getting away along with the knowledge of where those kids where. I mentally groaned and jumped out of the second story window. I landed with ease and began the chase.


	7. Chapter 7

The man that was supposedly an alien ran down the road called Reichstagufer. I sprinted after him, weaving around tourists and locals and rolling up my skirt with each step. My jacket caused me to sweat more than needed and my shoes were killing me. As I was running, one question just kept nagging at me.

What happened to my life?

I'm in Berlin, chasing an alien outlaw because Neill, or Tony, or whatever his fucking name was; needed me to go after him. This supposed Alien Bounty Hunter was friends with Alfred and together they were a team, kicking alien ass and taking names.

I wanted to scream in frustration, but a deeper, darker side of me said, _why scream when you can take your frustration out on him._

I looked straight ahead to the disguised alien. Its disguise was of a tall man with short chestnut brown hair. He was long and lean and wore causal clothes. Anger and irritation boiled inside of me and fueled me with the energy to quicken my pace. The man turns onto Bunsenstraße and I followed him like a bloodhound. I was closing in and he noticed. He yelped and tried losing me on the street of Dorotheenstraße, jumping into traffic.

Cars honked as they came to a skidding stop. The man crossed the road and I continued to follow, weaving around cars and vans. Several drivers shouted at me but I ignored them. Now that I think about it, I was crazy focused. It was like everything else faded away and the only thought, the only concern I had was capturing that guy.

He cuts into Schadowstraße and I cursed, "I'm really sick of chasing you."

Farther down this road, I kicked up my legs and tackled him to the ground. He hissed back a cry and punched me in the face. I barely felt it, it was nothing compared to a nation's punch. I threw down my elbow to the side of his temple, dazing him. I curled my fingers into his shirt and tossed him into an ally between two buildings. "Let's have a little chat, shall we?" I said as I cracked my knuckles.

"Are you with him?!" he shouted, "The bounty hunter?!"

I lifted him up and slammed him to the wall, "I'm asking the questions here. Where is this Klepo guy?"

He gave me a confused look, "who?"

I slapped him with the back of my hand, "I don't have time for your stupid games!"

"You pronounced his name wrong," a familiar Scottish voice resounded from behind.

I craned my neck to face Neill, well a silver-gray skinned alien that uses a human disguise he created as Neill Shaw. I narrowed my eyes at it, "Well then," I dropped the man, "you ask the questions."

It walked over and bent its knees to be at the same level as the man, "Now where is Klipto Thas."

* * *

Ludwig could not believe the impudence of Amy Hawkfeather.

She had asked for a break but instead she had run off.

It all started when the window broke, and all the nations came running down the hall. "What happen?" Ludwig asked.

A security guard answered, "Someone broke through the window."

"Who?" Ludwig followed with another question.

"We don't know," a second guard proclaimed, "our cameras have been malfunctioning since this morning."

The nations glanced at one another, giving a silent signal to head back into the meeting room. Once they were all accounted for, Yao was the first to say, "You don't think it was America? Do you?"

"Of course not," Arthur protested, "she may be ill tempered but she wouldn't break a window." His voice may have been confident but his eyes gave away his uncertainly.

"It could be something else," Feliciano added, "let's just wait for America."

An hour passed and when Ludwig called for security to check the grounds, they had eye witnesses of a blond girl in a suit, jumping out of a window and running from the building. Ludwig messaged the bridge of his nose, he could feel the vein of his forehead throbbing. America was not coming back.

Ludwig rose from his seat and pulled out his phone. "Franz, I need you and your men to find Amy Hawkfeather. We will join the search as well, remember keep Amy's name out of the public eye."

"Of course Mr. Beilschmidt," the young cadet proclaimed. Franz Burkhard had recently moved up in the ranks and had been given permission to know of Ludwig's true identity.

Ludwig and Franz said their goodbyes as he hanged up the phone and turned to the other nations. "Let's go, clearly America isn't coming back."

* * *

An hour of questioning brought nothing. The disguised alien was not talking and I was losing my patience. "We're not getting anywhere," I proclaimed.

Alien Neill turned to me, "you think I don't know that."

I sighed and glanced to the people that were walking by the alleyway. They didn't take any notice of us, for the bounty hunter had placed silver metal disks at the walls of the buildings. Creating a force field that hid us away from the public.

The man hissed as he tried to break his bandage. There was a collar around his neck, cuffs around his wrists and shackles at his ankles. All these bands were made of metal and each were connected by bright yellow electrical currents.

Also these devices seemed to pop out of the alien hunter's wristband (a.k.a. metal band) with simple voice commands. I watched as he lifted his arm to his mouth, "Locate Cloaking Device." A tiny video projector leaped out of the band and began to scan the man. The projector locked in on the collarbone and a necklace of cross. Neill smirked and pulled the necklace from the man and just like Neill's malfunction of his wristband earlier that day; the man's form flickered and disappeared, leaving behind a five foot tall snail in its place. It was green with yellow eyes that sat at the tip of its antennas. It had no shell, fat little stubs for arms and had razor sharp teeth.

"A Salken," Neill proclaimed, "a C.D. can only do so much. How could you ever run so fast?"

The snail creature hissed and Neill reached down to the tail and pulled off a blue, round disk. "A hover board should've known."

"A hover board," I exclaimed, "like a hover board that flies through the air hover board?"

"Yes," he answered, "it's an X39-Pyixas, can convert any type of energy to fuel and communicates with its rider's brain waves." He tossed it to me and I caught it like a frisbee.

"Wow," I placed my hands over the futuristic like disk.

"Keep your grubby hands off my board Earthling!" the Salken snapped.

"Oh look it speaks," I said.

"That's my board; I paid over 30,000 roptons for it! Its mine!"

"Roptons?" I questioned.

"It's a currency used all over the galaxies," Neill answered.

I nodded, "okay." I paid more attention to the blue disk, I moved to place my entire palm on it, to weigh it but it began to glow. "Um, Neill it's glowing."

"Relax; it's just recording your DNA."

"Why?" I asked, almost scared.

"So you can fly it."

The disk pushed off my hand and floated an inch above the ground. The disk grew, enlarging itself into a small surfboard. "Oh, wow. This is so cool."

"You filthy Earthling!" The Salken shouted. "You primitive beings have no respect!"

"I should respect five foot snail, yeah I'll get right on that," I rolled my eyes.

"You humans believe that you are the center of the universe, that nothing could touch you," it glared, but then smiled a sharp toothy grin. "But yet no matter what you Earthlings do, you can't protect your own offspring."

I glared, "what do you want with those kids?"

It smirked, "slave labor is always in demand on other planets."

"You monster, they're just kids," I hissed.

"Yet over 100,000 children get forced into your own version of slave labor very year. How does this make you any different from us?"

I smashed my fist into its face, busting it into the building's wall. It moaned, but I just kept punching, denting the wall as I squashed its face.

Neill pulled me off, "Amy stop! We need him alive!"

I shoved him off, panting, "we're not getting anywhere him!" I faced the Salken, it was bruised but it seemed fine.

"Physical attacks won't work on their kind," Neill answered as if reading my mind. "Their bodies absorb hits."

I kicked at the building's wall, leaving a hole. The pain shot up my leg but it helped cool my anger. Allowing me to come up with an idea, "Is his kind anything like a snail on Earth?" I asked.

Neill lifted an eyebrow, mostly wondering how I could pass on my anger so quickly. "Yes, their anatomy is same."

"Even their weaknesses?"

He nodded and I walked back to the hover board. I took a deep breath, pushed it down to the ground and stepped on. It was like riding a skateboard except it had no wheels, it was wider and it kept rising off the ground. I squealed as it tried to go up.

"Amy, relax, you won't fall, the X39 creates its own gravity pull, it will keep you on and if by some slim chance you do fall; it will create a force field to catch you," Neill explained.

"Really?" I asked, skeptically of him.

"Fall off," he gestured to the ground, which was five feet below me. I gave him a wide eyed look and he smiled, "trust me."

'_Trust me'_, how could two little words hold so much power? Maybe it was because the alien was wearing Neill's face. Well, technically it was Neill. The same Neill that stayed up several nights with me till I understood my math homework; that helped me with science projects and study guides for school district testing. He was my teacher, my mentor and as I got older, he became my friend.

I turned my back to him, inhaled through my nose and leaned back. A wall caught me and pushed be back onto the board. When I turned around there was purple tinted force field that covered in a perfect circle all around me and the board.

"Wow, just," I shook my head, "wow."

"Now just focus on where you want to go."

"Oh, right," I pulled out my phone, ignoring all the messages and calls from the nations and headed directly to Google Maps. I typed for food markets and found one called Penny Market; it was about fifteen to seventeen minutes away from where I was. "Um, Neill how fast can a hover board go?"

"To explain it would be complicated," he proclaimed. "I'll just say it can be as fast as any car on Earth."

I nodded, "Got it, also can I borrow some cash?"

He lifted a brow in question but clicked at his wristband. Transparent keys glowed under his fingertips as a credit card popped out. "Here," he handed it to me.

"A Discover Card?" I gave him a look.

He shrugged, "Hey, an alien's gotta eat."

I smiled, "Alright, I'll be back."

"Hold on," he threw the silver cross necklace at me. "Wear it; I reprogrammed it to make you look like a bird. We don't want videos of a flying girl over Berlin going viral on YouTube."

"Right," I slipped the necklace over my head, "how do I-"

"There's a button on top of the cross, press it."

I did and nothing happen, "I don't feel any different."

"It's a Cloaking Device. It puts up a shield that displays a picture, think of it as a hologram that you can touch and feel. Everyone else will see a common pigeon, while you will remain the same."

"Awesome. Wait what about the hover board?"

"The X39 has a camouflage mode; it will constantly change color to match its environment."

"How do I-"

"It listens to your thoughts and analyzes your habits, but if you still don't understand just say 'Camouflage Mode'."

"Camouflage Mode," I said to the board and it disappeared. The blue faded away and became the shade of the concrete ground. "Cool," I squealed. The board slowly floated higher and I yelped as it stopped.

"Don't think too much into it," Neill shouted, "just think of it as surfing, except riding waves, you're riding the air."

"Riding air; got it." I took another deep breath and flew forward. Unfortunately I flew into traffic. I worked the hover board as a skateboard and leaned right, dodging a car. I placed a foot back and exclaimed, "Up!" The board rocketed into the sky, sending me high into the air. "Stop!" I screamed and it slowed, coming to a halt.

I panted, my heart beat was pounding and my body was twitching with adrenaline. I looked down, the view was amazing, like a more accurate version of Google Maps. I shook out my shoulders and tested the reins. I leaned right and the board turned but didn't move. I moved left and the board slightly hovered left. I glanced to my phone for directions and the board started heading straight on Dorotheenstraße, following the map that was on my phone. Just like Neill said, it seemed to read my mind and understood my feelings on where I wanted to go and how fast I wanted it to go. "Okay, I need to go fast-" I didn't have to finish my sentence. It accelerated, passing cars at a rapid speed.

I shouted excitedly and shifted my weight left onto Friedrichstraße. I soared up and weaved right and left, practicing skateboard tricks that I haven't done since I was fourteen. It was simple. Riding air was effortless and I totally loved it.

"You have arrived at your destination," I almost missed the voice of my phone but my mind and the hover board seem to work faster than my body. The board slowed and settled above a road called Reinickendorfer Straße. My phone said I needed to make a U-turn. I smirked, "I don't have to."

I guided the board to a pizza joint that was at the corner of the opposite street. It was only a short walk away from Penny Market and it was the only place with a covered area to dismount from the hover board. The pizza shop was called Call a Pizza, and it seemed legit. The aroma of melted cheese and pepperoni was beginning to make my stomach growl. I shook away the thought; I had a job to do.

I landed behind the pizza joint and jumped off the board. "Okay, now how do I get you back into that disk-" Again, I didn't have to finish my sentence. It folded itself into the disk and I bent down to pick it up. "This is so badass," I tried to stick it inside my pocket but it was too big. "Ugh," I sighed, "if only you could turn into something smaller, like a keychain or make yourself-" It changed form, taking on the shape of a cell phone case.

"No way," my eyes widened and I took out my phone. I snapped my phone into the case with ease and I grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "This is officially the coolest, most epic thing I ever saw."

I slipped my phone into my pocket, switched off the Cloaking Device and walked through the appointment buildings. It led to a field where a group of kids were playing soccer. I walked over and called out in German, "Excuse me, I'm lost, is there any way for me to get out of this lot?"

The group of children turned to me but they hesitated, clearly cautious of me. They're parents must've been warning them about stranger danger for months now. I gave a smile, "Just point where I have to go and I'll get out of your hair."

A little boy, about six or seven, walked over and pulled me by the hand. He was about the height Gael was and he had blond hair and blue eyes. He guided me to a concrete tunnel with an iron gate at the end, where the side walk met. He pointed to the tunnel's gate, "You can get to the street from here."

I grinned and ruffled his hair, "_danke_." He blushed slightly and I giggled. I walked down the tunnel and headed to the market that was straight ahead. Once I was inside I asked a worker for the aisle that held the spices and grabbed four bags of salt, each weighing about three pounds. Though my shopping basket was light, like I was carrying bottles of lotion instead of pounds of salt. I really didn't understand it, but I didn't have the time to think about it. I bought the salt, carrying two bags in each hand by the handles of the plastic bags.

I walked out and a man in a simple black suit stopped me. "Amy Hawkfeather."

"Yes," I answered.

"I'm Franz Burkhard," he proclaimed, "I'm here to bring you back to the meeting."

My eyes widened, "You know of us?"

"Yes, now please come with me, Mr. Beilschmidt is waiting."

I scanned the area, a man; slightly older, was watching us from across the street. A woman that stood several feet behind Franz was leaning against the wall and I could feel a pair of eyes on my back.

"As you can see, there's nowhere to run. Please come with us," said Franz.

My mind ran a mile. Of course the nations would come looking for me and obviously Ludwig would send out his government agents to come get me. I sighed, _what should I do? Go along with these suits and head back to the meeting. _

_And do what?_ I thought to myself, _sit your ass in a chair and do nothing._

My fingers curled at the plastic handles,_ no_. I needed to do something; I needed to help Neill catch Klipto. Those kids weren't going to be saved by human means. They needed Neill. The least I could do was get him the information he needs and _then_ I would return to the meeting; but first I had to lose the suits.

I nodded, "okay."

Franz smiled, "thank you for being civilized about this." The woman and man walked over as another man came up from behind.

Quickly, I threw my hand up; colliding the plastic bag filled with six pounds of salt into the man's face. I spun and kicked the same man into his knee cap. I heard a bone crack as he fell to the ground. He cried out in pain and I ran across the street.

Franz instructed the woman to stay with the injured as he and his last man chased after me. I picked up the pace and turned back into the tunnel I came out from. I stopped mid-way and switched on the Cloaking Device. The two men followed and ran right by me. Franz shouted, "Search the lot," he looked at his phone. "She has to be here."

_They must be using a tracker._ I pulled out my phone and took out the battery.

"Shit! I lost her signal," he exclaimed.

I smirked and walked back to the side walk. No doubt he will call for reinforcements, and I was sick of running in a skirt. I sprinted down Reinickendorfer Straße, where a clothing store stood at the corner. It was called AsMo, an alternative boutique. I ran in and a woman squealed, "A bird! Get it out!"

I cursed softly and ran into the racks of clothing. I switched off my disguise and the woman pulled apart the hangers. Her eyes widened, "why are you hiding in here?"

"I'm terrified of birds," I pretended to be embarrassed.

"Oh, well don't worry ma'am we will get that thing out of here," she said.

I nodded, "thank you."

She walked away and I sighed; _now, time to get some pants_.

I changed into a pair of dark jeans, a purple tank top with brown combat boots and a matching crop jacket. It was made of light material and the collar was popped up to cover my neck. It even came with a hood hidden inside. I pulled it out, covered my head, slipped on a new pair of fashionable shades and walked out of the changing room. I stuffed my suit into one of the plastic bags as I headed to the door. I had already paid for the new outfit so I wasn't met with questions or delays.

I felt more like myself in jeans, like I was ready to take on the world. I strolled back to the tunnel and turned on my disguise. Franz and his men were nowhere to be seen. I ran to the back of the pizza joint and pulled off the hover board phone case. I threw it to the ground and it grew to its full size. I stepped on, activated the camouflage mode and soared into the air.

* * *

"I'm back," I announced as I landed the board in the ally.

"You left to do a wardrobe change?" Neill asked, slightly annoyed.

"I needed pants, but there was something else that we needed," I smiled as I jumped off the board and it changed back into a phone case. "By the way, I love this!"

"That's mine, you Earthling bitch," the Salken cursed.

I narrowed my eyes at it, "Neill, let's play good cop, bad cop." I crutched in front of the cuffed alien and gave an uncaring smile. "Tell me, have you ever been to France?"

It hissed in irritation, "I will never understand this world; these different countries, languages, religion and culture. It's too damn confusing! Why can't you all just unify under one order like everyone else."

I shrugged, "People have tried, never works out." I pulled out a bag of salt and ripped it open. "I'm going to assume that you never been to France, which is a shame, it's a beautiful country." It glared and I continued, "There's a delicacy among the French, it's called escargot. Do you want to know what the main ingredient is?" I didn't want for him to answer, "Snails," I smiled.

It gave me a confused and slightly frightened look, and I moved along to the bag. I lifted a palm full of salt, "do you know what this is?" It stayed silent, "its salt. It's the only rock humans can digest. Humans are even made of it, we cry salty tears and our sweat even tastes like salt."

"Are we getting anywhere with this?" It snapped.

I ignored it, "Salt can be found underground, in our oceans, there's an endless supply." I dropped the salt back into the bag. "It tastes pretty good too," I licked off some left over grains from my hand. "Salt is used in cooking, to give a dish that special kick. Especially in escargot; why do you think we do that? Simple, it softens the snail and makes it gooey, some people like it like that. You see, salt can melt certain things," I grabbed another palm full of salt, "like ice, snow," I blew the salt off my hand and right into its face. "And snails."

It screamed bloody murder. Its face was leaking green liquid as the grains of salt burned into its skin. I whistled, "That looks painful."

"You," it panted, "bitch."

I smirked, "Instead of all those useless insults, how about you use that mouth of yours to tell me where those kids are."

It blinked back tears and hissed, "I won't talk."

"Fine," I picked up the bag and dumped all of the grain over its body. It cried out in agony as the salt sunk into its skin, burning holes and causing its wounds to smoke. It shook, trying to shake off the salt, but the grain stood on, dissolving into its flesh.

"S-stop," it whimpered.

"Tell me where Klipto and the kids are and _might _think about it."

"Amy," Neill pulled me back, "let me talk to him." He bent down, "listen pal, I want to help you, really I do, but you gotta help us first."

"I can't."

Neill sighed, "You're not helping yourself. I like you, I want to help you, she on the other hand," he gestured to me, "won't."

"He'll kill me."

"So would she."

I flinched, _would I?_

"Why do you care?!" It cried, "Humans can have more children, what's the point if we take a few thousand?!"

I snapped and I kicked the snail's face into wall. "You think a human life is that easy to replace!" I grabbed it and forced its mouth open, "I think it's time for bag two." I snatched the bag and ripped it open with my teeth. I shoved the bag into its mouth and shook the salt down its throat. It gagged as lime green liquid formed at the corners of its mouth. I stepped back as it fell to the ground, vomiting green fluids. "I bet your insides are burning," I said in calm voice and yanked it up by the collar.

"I won't ask again, where's Klipto," I ordered.

It gasped like a fish out of water and I threatened, "do you want bag three?"

"You," it gasped, "need," its voice was hoarse, "me alive."

"We can find someone else." I ripped open the last bags, "Besides, if by some miracle you survive after this. We'll just dump you into the ocean, and I'm sure you remember that it's filled with salt."

Its eyes widened in fear, tears were even falling, but I didn't care. "You know humans might not want to admit it, but they do love to see a good spread of blood and gore. I wonder, how many hits do think you'll get when the video of you liquefying into the ocean hits the internet?"

"You won't do it," it whispered.

I grinned evilly, "I would; because, personally I want to see that. I think, it will be entertaining to watch you die."

Tears fell faster as its voice rose higher in fear. I lost my smile, grabbed the last two bags, and held them over its head. "Last chance, where's Klipto?"

It continued to cry and I teased it be tipping the bags over. Its eyes widened and it screamed, "I don't know where he is right now! But, but I know where the kids are gonna be! I know when the auction is!"

"Where?" Neill chimed in.

"In London, Britain, at the Turks Shipyard, Klipto will be holding them in ship cargos-"

Its head exploded, green blood splattered over the wall as its body fell to the ground. Neill and I turned to a group of men. One held a silver gun with wires interlacing around the staff and handle. That man was the first to speak, "Damn Salken. Those idiots can never keep a secret."

"Amy, run-" Neill ran to grab my hand but he was shot in the back. He fell to the ground and I exclaimed, "Neill!" I leaped for him but a sharp needle stabbed my arm. I hissed and pulled the needle out, it was dart. "Oh fuck," I fell to the ground as my world turned black.


	8. Chapter 8

_I found myself in a forest, the trees towered over me, and the grass was a luscious shade of green and soft to lie on. I yawned and tried to go back to sleep, but nimble footsteps stirred me to rise myself onto my forearms. I looked up to a figure of white fur, gold eyes and canine teeth. _

_It was the wolf._

_I gulped, glanced to the ground and slowly crawled backwards. The wolf noticed and growled, "Stop."_

_I froze and looked back to find a woman with copper skin, long black raven hair and dark eyes. "Why do you run from me?"_

_I tried to speak, but the dream was beginning to blur. I was about to wake up._

_Before I could, she gripped her hand to my chin and whispered, "Stop ignoring me."_

* * *

I gasped and sat up, I tried to rub my face but my hands were tired. Thick rope was wrapped around my wrists, mid-section, arms and ankles. I scanned the area; it was a plain gray room with dimmed lighting. It had no furniture except for a table and two chairs.

"What the-" then the memory of being shot with a dart came rushing back. "Oh, that's right, I've been kidnapped by aliens," I sighed, _this is my life now._

"Hey, she's awake," a screechy voice proclaimed.

I turned to the door and found a humanoid structured being, but only the shape was where the similarities stop. It was about six feet tall with dark gray skin; its skin was tight over its bones and small, taut muscles. It had no hair, just a round bald head with small lizard-like, green eyes and a bird-like beck mouth. Its arms and legs were long and lean with a defined, popped out rib cage and narrowed waist. Its fingers were long, bony and had pointed finger nails.

I swallowed back the urge to scream as it took wide strides to place itself in front of me. Its fingers brushed through my hair and I flinched. "Oh don't be scared," it cooed, "you're a pretty girl, you might be able to end up as someone's pet. Wouldn't that be nice?"

I bit its finger and it pulled back with a hiss, "you little-" it was about to slap me till a red tentacle wrapped around its wrist.

"Calm yourself Nyla, don't harm the merchandise," a deep voice proclaimed from behind.

Nyla and I turned to face a floating head. It had no body, with red, scaly skin and several tentacles all around it. Some tentacles were stubs but most had extra eyes at the ends. One large eye sat at the center of its head, just below was an enormous mouth filled with long sharp teeth; each about the length of a Subway foot long.

"What the-" I barely yelped till Nyla shoved the red tentacle off.

"She bit me Kakwatt!"

"Then don't touch her," the floating head remarked.

"Who-what are you?!" I choked out.

The floating head turned, with all its eyes on me, "oh how rude. I'm Kakwatt, I'm from the Netrot Galaxy and my people are known as the Aberrations. Nyla here is from the same galaxy and she is a Duplin."

I blinked, "okay."

"Stop toying with her," Nyla hissed and typed on her metal wristband. (Does every alien have one?) "Now give me details."

The Aberration rolled his eyes and wrapped two tentacles around my mid-section to lift me up. His eyes began to scan me, searching all over my body. "Good bone structure," he commented as Nyla typed what he said. "Curly blond hair and bright blue eyes," he nodded in approval, "colored eyes are very popular."

"Let go of me-" Kakwatt stuck his tentacle into my mouth and stretched open to see my teeth.

"Good teeth and looks healthy and well-muscled."

"What about race?" Nyla asked.

"To the untrained eye, anyone would just mark her off as an American of European descent, but there's much more to her. Her lips are smooth and full, must be a French trait. She's also has Spanish cheek bones and German blue eyes. She has a long, lean body of a Scandinavian. Fingers of Native American characteristics and her curls are definitely from Native Mexican descent. Her skin tone is English and her delicate eye lashes are Russian." His eyes grew closer to me, "Fascinating."

"As anyone ever told you of personal space," I hissed.

"Her accent is American, but she has sight twang of the south west."

Nyla typed as she shook her head, "How do you know all this? I can barely keep track of humans that are Chinese and Japanese. Have you ever tried separating them? They look so much alike."

Kakwatt laughed, "I've been on Earth for years, studying these creatures." He smiled, "I know all of you think of them as lowly beings but they are actually quite interesting."

"I'll show you 'lowly being'," I shouted as I lifted my knees to kick Kakwatt. Though, before I could land a hit, he dropped me and floated back.

"She's not afraid, shocked at first but seems to adapt quickly."

"Maybe she can be used as a sparring partner for some aliens at the arenas," Nyla commented.

"They don't last very long," he added, "It would be a waste of money and waste of her good looks."

The Duplin snorted, "She isn't _that_ pretty."

The Aberration chuckled, "on this planet she would be considered a beauty."

"You heard him," I smirked, "you're just jealous because you're some fucked up love child between a lizard and a bird."

She slapped me across the face, "watch your mouth Earthling."

The pain faded as I glared at her, Nyla narrowed her lizard eyes at me. "She healed. Kakwatt, humans don't heal that fast do they?"

Kakwatt's eyes widened, "no, could it be. . ."

"Nyla," another alien opened the door, it had two fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot. Long black nails were connected to its hands and feet. It had piercing teeth with long canine fangs at the ends. Three pairs beady bug eyes lined from its forehead to its mouth while two large spider eyes lined on the sides of the six smaller ones. It had long tan and purple fur on top of its shoulders and looked like a gigantic flea.

"What do you want?" Nyla asked, annoyed.

"Klipto's holding a meeting," it said in a series of hisses. A small creature crawled off its arm and scurried towards me.

It was a spider.

I screamed, "Get that thing away from me!" I tried to stomp on it with my tied feet.

"No!" the flea creature screeched, "don't hurt Luna!" The over-sized flea crawled over and gently lifted the bug to give it a kiss. (I think.)

"She's not afraid of us," Nyla proclaimed, "but she's afraid of a bug that's native to her world."

"Like I said, humans are interesting creatures," Kakwatt said.

"Come on you two we have to go," the spider-loving flea exclaimed.

"Go on without me, I'll be there soon," Kakwatt proclaimed.

Nyla sighed, "Fine, but don't take too long, Klipto doesn't like to wait." She and the flea walked out of the room, leaving me alone with the floating head.

He looked at me with a whole new interest. "You're not human," he wrapped a tentacle to lift my face up. "I've heard rumors but I never thought I would be able to see one with my own eyes. A nation, telling of your accent, you must be America," his tentacle brushed through my hair, "just imagine what you have seen, such history behind your eyes."

I glared, "sorry to disappoint you but I've only lived for eighteen years. I wouldn't know much."

He snorted, "You don't give yourself much credit." His tentacle stub brushed under my eye, "your eyes say it all." His tentacles continued to wrap themselves around me once again, lifting me up in the air. "Do you want to know how Aberrations gather knowledge? We don't need to waste our time learning the material, we simply find a being that knows it," his head was the length and width of eight feet. He moved me closer so I would be mere inches away from his teeth, "and we eat them."

My eyes widened as he held me up and opened his mouth. "No," I choked, and then shouted, "No! No!"

"Relax," he hissed, "believe me, I'm saving you, at least this death will be quick." He pulled me closer to his massive mouth. I tore my arms apart, breaking the rope and slammed my fist into his large eye. He cried out in pain as he squeezed his tentacle around my neck. "You little-" I snapped the rope from my ankles apart and kicked him in the teeth. Red blood splattered over my clothes and the floor as his teeth dangled from his gums.

I moved swiftly as I grabbed one of his loose teeth and cut off the tentacle that was around my neck. Then I snatched the other tentacle as it was about to let me go and leaped onto the alien, gouging his tooth into his center eye. Everything blurred after that, all I saw was red as I continued to stab him over and over again. Kakwatt screamed in agony and begged for me to stop but I didn't. I just wailed like a banshee as I stabbed, punched and kicked him.

The floating head fell to the ground, but I didn't stop. Not when blood began to pool below him, not when he stopped screaming nor stopped moving. I just kept slicing off tentacles and leaving deep gashes over his body till I gave out.

I panted and pushed myself off him. I glanced to my hands; one was still clutching the foot long razor-sharp tooth while the other held itself in a tight fist. Both were covered in blood.

"Such strength," he whispered and I snapped my head up to meet him at his last remaining tentacle eye. "Such grace," he panted, "and yet such brutality. Humans have seen my kind as monsters and have worshiped creatures like you like gods. But who are truly gods? And who are truly monsters? Or could we be both?"

I slashed off his eye and stabbed him one last time, "shut up," I whispered and rose to my feet. Still holding on to his tooth as a weapon, I walked to the door and stepped out into the hall.

"Freeze!" I turned to face a group of aliens that varied in size, color and species. Some looked like over grown worms with toad faces. Most were bug like with multiple arms and legs, others had lizard traits. Scaly skin, slitting eyes and long crawls; exoskeleton skinned creatures with wide eyes and web like hands and feet. Few had humanoid bodies but they had different skin tones of blues, reds, greens and purples. Most of these humanoid beings had multiple limbs and eyes, and long body structures with coarse, scaly and insect-like skin. All of these creatures held future-like weapons; laser guns of different sizes ranging from hand-held pistols to massive blasters that needed to be held with both hands. Or in some cases four.

"Stay where you are!" an alien exclaimed.

I tightened my hold on the Aberration's tooth and grabbed my phone from my pocket.

"Don't move!"

I ignored them as I tore off the phone's case. A blast like shot resounded and I felt a shrill, intense pain up my arm. I glanced to the tip of my shoulder; a piece of flesh was ripped off.

"I said, don't move!"

The pain grew numb as any thoughts I had fell silent. Instincts took over as I yanked out the phone case and tossed it out to the floor. Laser blasts ringed out but the hover board blocked and re-directed every blast as I ducked behind it. When the series of shots were over, I jumped onto the board and flew straight into the crowd.

The aliens didn't expect that. They were caught off guard as I slit throats and gutted stomachs. I flipped of the board while kicking an alien in the face and slicing a hand off another. The hover board read my thoughts as it circled around me, protecting me from laser blasts as I took down one alien after the other.

I don't remember how I did it, I simply did.

I walked through the halls and stair cases, screaming battle cries as I punched, kicked, and stabbed any creature that crossed my path. Several aliens moved to strike me down, their laser blasts had ripped off chucks flesh from my shoulder blades, outer thighs, inner arms and rib cage but I felt nothing. I would just rise to my feet and hit them back a hundred times fold.

I sent aliens twice my size flying out of windows and smashed others through walls. I had snatched laser guns from fallen aliens and zipped around on the board shooting off limbs and heads of terrestrial beings.

Once I reached the fifth floor, a bright light blinded me as it destroyed the hover board and threw me to a wall.

"Why haven't you killed her yet! She's just a human!" a male Duplin shouted to a lizard creature that walked on its back legs.

"She's not like any human I've seen!"

I stood up and glanced to the board, it sparked with blue light and smoke was rising from the wound it took from the laser blast. I narrowed my eyes at the pair of aliens, "I really loved that board." I ran towards them as the Duplin shouted at the lizard to shoot but I had slit the throat of the gun wielding lizard before it could even pull the trigger. I grabbed the gun and aimed it at the Duplin. He tried to speak but I shot him in the head before he could.

A door opened from behind, "what the-" it was Nyla's voice. I spun and pointed the gun at her head, "where's Neill?"

"Fray!" Nyla screeched and the flea creature from before attacked. Its teeth sunk into my arm and I hissed a curse as I knifed it in the face with the Aberration's tooth. I kicked off the body and placed the gun closer to Nyla.

"How are you still alive?" She questioned, "An Ettercap's bite is venomous! It paralyzes its victims! An average human wouldn't be able to move by now!"

"As you can see I'm not an average human. Now, where's the bounty hunter? Tell me or I'll be painting the walls with your blood." I threatened.

Nyla gestured to her right, "he's down the hall, first door on your left."

I pulled the laser gun away from her head, "thanks." I blasted her in the knee. Nyla fell to the floor, clutching her limb and hissing out in pain. "Stay," I commanded as I walked on.

I came to the door and stepped inside. I found Neill in his alien form trapped inside some kind of force field. He was sitting cross legged on the floor and seemed unharmed. I sighed in relief, "Neill," I smiled.

He looked up, his eyes widened, "Amy!"

A blast resounded from behind and I looked down to find a large hole, which had pierced through my mid-section. Blood pooled in my mouth as I turned to face the shooter. It was seven foot tall yellow insect; it stood upright on two segmented legs. Its head looked like an ant with massive yellow eyes, long antennas on the top of its head and severe mandibles from its mouth. It was muscular, had four arms with two fingered crawls at the end of each limb and wore a long black cloak.

It lifted the laser gun to my forehead, "Watch bounty hunter, I'm going to give you a display on why you shouldn't involve these primitive beings into our business."

* * *

Tony watched in horror as Klipto Thas exploded pieces of Amy's brain matter across the floor. He screamed Amy's name as she fell backwards and the light vanished from her eyes.

Klipto glanced to Amy's body with a blank expression, "too bad, she would've got me a lot of money."

"You bastard!" Tony screamed.

Klipto chuckled, "you seem to grow too close to humans, remember they don't live as long as we do."

Tony took deep breaths, he knew Amy would be fine, but he couldn't afford Klipto to figure that out. "I'll make you pay for this!"

He snorted, "Good luck with that." Klipto slapped the wall, leaving an object behind. It was about the size of a shoe box and it had a timer, starting at three hours. He pressed a button and the numbers began to count down.

Tony froze; _a bomb_.

Klipto walked out of the room, "we're moving out! Pack and seal our records to my base in London! Leave no evidence behind!"

As he closed the door, aliens that were still alive ran through the building; packing up weapons, hover boards and computers. They continued by destroying bodies of fallen terrestrials, bleaching rooms and hallways that were covered in various colors of blood, and setting up explosives throughout the building.

Tony could do nothing but wait for Amy to heal, his only wish was for her to wake up before the clock hit zero.

Two hours passed and Tony was pacing around the force field, he couldn't do much without his metal wristband. He looked to the clock, they only had hour left. He glanced to Amy; her blood had dried and turned a shade of deep brown. Tony had seen this before with Alfred. When his blood or a piece of flesh had been torn from his body, the pieces would turn brown and become dirt.

The bits of Amy's brain matter were losing its pink color along with the white scalp and blond hair. The flesh transformed into a dark shade of earthly brown and crumbled into a pile of soil. Thirty minutes passed and Amy's body began to heal; regenerating bones and organs, rebuilding muscle and skin tissue, and growing new locks of hair. The hole in her gut had completely sealed and her skull was back to its originally state.

Twenty minutes passed and Tony grew desperate. "Amy, wake up! I know you can survive an explosion but I can't!" He banged his fists on the force field, "Wake up! Wake up!"

She blinked and moved on to her side, "five more minutes," she grumbled sleepily.

"I've waited for you for over two fucking hours! Get up!"

She moaned as she sat up, "why are you yelling?" She messaged her temples.

"Sorry for yelling," he said in a sweet tone before his voice rose in harshness. "But we only have ten minutes before this place goes ka-boom!"

She looked at him with worried eyes, "What?!" She rose to her feet and looked to the clock, "why is that counting down?"

"Oh, it's the count down to the big summer blow out sale at Macy's." He gave her a thumb's up, and then a thumb's down, "it's a bomb! Now get me out of here!"

"How?!"

"The control panel; right on the wall," Tony pointed to the computer. It was half the size of a smart phone and it displayed its screen as a hologram.

Amy tapped her fingers over the screen. "I can't understand this."

"Come on! You've worked with holograms before!"

"They're still a new thing; only skype and my Galaxy Infinity hold the programs. They're too new to work smoothly. I still have to update the programs every month!"

Tony sighed, he knew yelling at her wouldn't work. "Amy, calm down! Just think of this as a math question."

"Math?! How does math have anything to do with this?!"

"Okay, wrong choice of words," he sighed once again, "type in the code to let me go."

"How?! This thing's written in some alien language!"

"Just listen to me and do what I say," Tony exclaimed as he instructed Amy to type certain holographic keys.

When she pressed enter, nothing happened. "What the-" before Amy could curse the bomb beeped and the time was cut in half, they had less than five minutes.

"Oh fuck," Tony and Amy swore in sync.

"Maybe I did something wrong," she turned back to the screen.

Tony shook his head, "you didn't; it must be another code."

"Then tell me!"

"Amy there could be millions of codes and if that clock is programed to cut the time in half every time you mess up. Then we don't have that many chances."

Amy cursed and rubbed her eyes. She started panting and Tony noticed that her eyes were beginning to water. He inhaled through his nose, "go."

"What?"

"You heard me, go! Go back to the nations, tell them what you know! You all might be the only chance those kids have!"

"But would they believe me?!"

Tony tensed, remembering his time with two other nations. No matter how many times Alfred told Arthur that Tony was an alien, he never believed him. Toris may have played along with him but he never really took him seriously. Tony punched the force field in frustration, "You have to try."

"But-"

"Don't argue with me! Get out now!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to!"

Amy clutched her fists and turned to the computer.

"No, Amy, don't-"

She slammed her fist through the computer. The screen and the force field disappeared as the bomb beeped and the time was once again cut in half. They had two minutes and thirty seconds.

Tony stared at Amy in awe as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room. They ran through the halls only to find more bombs counting down. They were on the fifth floor of the building and no matter how fast they ran; they wouldn't be able to make it out in less than two minutes.

They reached the fourth floor and Amy stopped to watch the clock hit to its last minute. "We're not gonna make it like this."

"Use the hover board," Tony exclaimed.

"Yeah about that," she sighed, "it kinda exploded."

The clock had reached forty seconds and Amy lifted Tony to her chest. "What are you doing?!" he exclaimed.

"The only way out of here is through that window," she took a few steps back and prepared herself to sprint towards the window.

"But we're on the fourth floor!"

"Yeah, I figured you can use me as a pillow." She pushed herself off the wall as Tony screamed like girl and she leaped out of window. Glass shattered as they fell through the air and the bombs exploded behind them.

The force of the explosion sent them flying. Amy covered her arms protectively over Tony's head and held him close. Like she said, she used her back as a cushion. They crashed to the ground and bounced twice till they stopped.

Tony pushed himself up and rubbed his head, he may not have ears but he could still hear the ringing. He groaned and looked to Amy; she was covered in cuts, bruises and her shoulder was dislocated. "Oh Amy, stay with me," he gently lifted her head and felt something warm dripping from his hand.

"We're alive," she asked in a hoarse tone, "how is that possible?"

"You're a nation and you used your body as a shield for me, it does wonders," Tony said as he brushed through her hair lovingly. No matter how old Amy will get, he will always see her as that sweet little girl he met over thirteen years ago.

"Where are we?" Amy said weakly.

Tony scanned the area and found the faint outline of the Eiffel Tower. It was night and the city was alive with twinkling lights, "we're in Paris."

"Crap. . . Ludwig's gonna kill me, then the president and then my parents."

Tony chuckled, "who are you more afraid of?"

"D. all of the above," she gave a bloody smile.

Sirens roared in the distance and he asked, "Amy, are you wearing your grandfather's ring?"

She knitted her brows together in confusion, lifted her hand up and hissed in pain as she did. Tony held it softly and carefully pulled the hawk ring off her finger. Her parents were afraid that Amy would flip the house upside down searching for that piece of jewelry, and they were correct. She tore through each room and John had to give the ring to Tony (as Neill), for safe keeping.

During that short period of time, he had placed a small homing clip inside the ring. "Contact ship," he commanded the clip and after a pause a robotic voice said.

"Connection made."

"Lock in on our location," Tony ordered.

"Location, locked. Please stand by."

Barely a second passed as his space craft flew over them, sending down a beam of light to float them into the frisbee shaped craft. Once they were inside, the space craft blended with the sky and zipped away to the island off the coast of France.


	9. Chapter 9

_I was laid out beside a crystal blue pond in the same forest I had been in my last dream. I was wearing a violet dress that came to mid-thigh and nothing else. I sat up and groaned as I rubbed the throbbing pain in my forehead. _

_Why did my forehead hurt in the first place?_

_Then my ears ringed as a blaze exploded inside my head. The memory of the large cockroach alien blasting my skull open came flooding back and I winced._

I died. . . .

_The moment I woke up, I was too busy rescuing Neill to really think about it. Then I jumped out of that window. . . A piercing sting spread from my back, arms and skull. I remembered Neill holding me, then asking for Grandpa's ring and then. . . I saw the light._

_I gulped and wrapped my arms around myself, "am I truly dead this time?" I whispered._

_A soft laugh resounded and I looked up to see the same dark haired beauty from my last dream. "You're not dead, simply resting," she bent down and brushed her hand gently over me cheek. "Oh, you look so much like him, but you really do remind me move of myself than him."_

"_Who are you?" I asked in a small voice._

_She smiled, "I'm only a concerned grandmother, that's all."_

"_G-grandmother? Are you-"_

"_I am North, well that is what the empires and the tribes of the Central and the South called me before some European man named our continents the Americas."_

_"You're America before the Europeans came?"_

"_I was still America after the Europeans, not for very long, but still."_

"_Wow. So that makes you Alfred's mother right?"_

_She nodded._

"_And that makes you my grandmother."_

_Her smile widened, "yes."_

_I gave her a tiny smile in return and we were silent for a minute till I asked: "So why are you here?"_

"_I'm sorry for how I acted the last time," her voice was filled with genuine apology. "I was just frustrated; I've been trying to contact you for months now."_

"_Why?"_

_Her dark eyes grew sad, "To warn you; a powerful spirit is after you."_

_I knitted my brows together in confusion, "For what? I didn't do anything!"_

"_You're America. America has always been desirable land to humans, nations and spirits alike. This spirit is gathering an army of vapors to find you."_

"_Vapors?"_

"_Beings that live in the Abyss of the Spirit World, they thrive off hate and anger and devour any light they can find." _

"_They sound pleasant," I said sarcastically._

_She chuckled lightly as she shook her head, "Oh Amy, they are not. They eat and eat and they are never filled. They want; they take and give nothing back but hate."_

"_You guys sure like to rhyme don't you?"_

_She hooked her arms around me and pulled me into a motherly embrace. "I know that you're scared, but I am here."_

_She skin smelled like the earth and wildflowers and her hair carried the texture of silk. She rubbed my back and the tension in my shoulders released._

"_Amy you must be careful, spirits are tricksters by nature," she lifted my chin up to face her. "We take any form we desire being man," in a blink of an eye, light surrounded her as her features hardened and her body became lean and muscular. "Child," her voice was deep but it quickly lowered as she turned herself into a small boy. "Elder," she rapidly grew into an old woman, and finally into the form of a white wolf, "or animal."_

_I leaned back, "you're the wolf from Austria's house."_

_She nodded again and turned back into her female form, "as you can see, spirits are shapeshifters. You can't trust anyone."_

"_Well, I got my family, friends and the nations-"_

_Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, "Amy, they look at you like they looked at me. They want to possess you. Yes, they'll protect you from this spirit but only so they can have you. You cannot trust them," her dark eyes turned gold, "_You can't trust anyone_."_

* * *

My eyes shot opened as a massive light shined above me. I groaned and sat up, I was sitting on a metal table and I was wearing a new set of clothes. My white shirt had a round neckline, had no sleeves, and was styled like a Greek tunic. The thing was it wouldn't be counted as a dress for the length stopped right under my ass. Well I couldn't say that, most girls would wear this as a dress. I wore a new pair of skinny jeans and a small brown woven belt around my waist, which matched the combat boots I had brought from that boutique earlier that day.

I messaged my temples; it's been months since I experienced a dream like that. I had just met Alfred's mother and that was cool but supposedly there was a whole new threat to deal with and I had no idea how to handle it. Except for the warning; don't trust anyone. Why was it that whenever I discover something new, it only adds on to the pile of drama I called a life?

I sighed heavily as images of aliens being killed by my hand engulfed my thoughts. I panted as I covered my face with my hands and placed my elbows in my lap. The memories wouldn't stop. Aliens of different shapes and sizes flashed through my mind one after the other, each one a bloody moment where I took their lives. I tried to shut away the thoughts by forcing my eyes closed but it only increased the intensity of the images.

The blood of various colors splattering over my clothes, the walls and the floors.

The bodies of terrestrials falling to the ground as their lives vanished from their eyes.

And me, above them with the Aberration's tooth in one hand and laser gun in the other. My eyes cold and my body numb.

I swallowed back a sob, I took life so easily, it wasn't like me, or was it? The nations didn't seem to be fazed by taking life. Arthur had cut off Francis's head. Ivan tortured Toris and several other nations and Gilbert had waged war against Toris and Feliks so of course they must have killed people.

_Was this natural for me?_

_Was this what nations do?_

_Kill?!_

A hand brushed over my head and I jumped. Neill stepped back, his hands up in surrender, "whoa, it's okay, it's okay." He was back in his human form and he looked worried. "Are you alright?" he asked uncertainly.

I shook my head, "Neill," I inhaled, "am I a monster?"

"What?!" he knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. "No. Why would you ask a question like that?"

"Because I-because I," my vision blurred with tears, "I killed without a second thought," I choked out. "I don't know how I could! It just started when that floating alien head wanted to eat me and I just lost it. But it wasn't like any other time I lost my temper, I just kept stabbing him." I sobbed, "over and over again, I didn't stop, even when he begged. I just kept stabbing," my voice was high and tears were flowing down my cheeks. "Then when I went into that hall way and saw those aliens, it was like I-I turned off and became something entirely different."

Neill sat beside me and pulled me into the nook of his shoulder. I continued in a whimper, "I know I threatened that snail man but I would never have gone through with it! I was still me! I mean I wasn't turned off-" I cried out in frustration and guilt. "God, I just don't know how to explain it."

He remained quiet and rubbed my back, "I know, I know." He sighed, "Alfred told me about this once."

I rose and wiped my cheeks, giving him my full attention. He squeezed my shoulder before he pulled his hand away and stared ahead. "It was about a year or two after I first came to Earth; I was hunting down an alien that was eating human prostitutes. Turns out humans are a delicacy in some galaxies." I winced and he continued, "Alfred had cornered the alien before I did, but I was able to make it in right after the alien tried to take a bite out of him. I just stood there, in fear as he tore that alien apart. He beat it till his hands were covered in its blood and the alien laid dead at his feet.

"He had such a rage, but yet his eyes were cold, he neither enjoyed it nor hated it. He simply fought. It surprised me, before then he was always so happy." He paused for a moment, with a faraway look in his eyes. "But he told me when a nation felt like their life was threatened they can push aside their human emotions to fight. He described it the way you did; a switch would go off in his head and he would fight and kill without any hesitance. It's a survivor's instinct that all nations possess."

We were silent till I snorted, "I'm just like them, aren't I," I said bitterly.

"Amy," he squeezed my hand gently, "you fought to save my life. This warrior mode you have is made to protect you and the people you care about. But you can't rely on it. That's why you need to train with the nations; you need to know _how_ to fight. For if you place all your faith on that instinct you could lose yourself in the process."

I nodded as he released my hand and walked over to panel of buttons and a hologram screen. I scanned the area; it was a futuristic room with computer panels around the walls, and a pod that seemed to be used for sleeping. "Where are we?"

"My space craft," Neill answered as he typed on the screen. "It may be small but it's fast."

"I thought you lost your wristband."

"Spares," he tapped at his arm, "I got tons of these."

"Why are you in your human form? We're in your space ship, why do you need to hide?"

Neill turned away from the screen to look at me, "You don't seem to like my alien form."

"That was only because I was surprised to find that my tutor was an alien and I should have realized, it explains so much." He gave a small laugh and I proclaimed, "I don't want you to hide from me."

He smiled and typed on his wristband, his disguise flickered as his alien form appeared. I hopped off the table and sat beside him in the passenger seat. I stared at him, "You know, you're actually kinda cute, like a little anime chibi thing."

He laughed, it was high and girly but he was still Neill.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, "We do have a plan right?"

He sighed, "I sent out a message for back-up but they won't be able to reach Earth in time."

"What do you mean? You're aliens! You mastered space travel; don't you have warp speed or something?"

He blinked, "you've been watching too much _Star Trek_."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "okay then, we need to gather the nations. They might want to bite my head off but once we explain about you and the kidnapping aliens they'll help us."

"They might not believe you."

"How could they not! I have you and a space ship to prove it."

He sighed, "Amy I've met two other nations before and they didn't believe that I was an alien."

I gave him a look, "Who?"

"The countries of Britain and Lithuania; no matter how much Alfred told Arthur I was an alien, he never believed us."

"What did he think you were?"

"Some kind of mythical creature," he proclaimed.

"He believes in fairies and unicorns, but he doesn't believe in aliens?!"

Neill shrugged his shoulders, "go figure right."

"What about Toris?"

"He played along but he never took us seriously."

"But-but we have this space ship, your wristband and laser guns, this has to be enough to prove that you're real."

"Do you really want to back and try to explain this to them? Amy, they'll either going to argue with you or argue with each other about believing you; and we don't have the time. The auction is being held tonight at midnight." He tapped at the hologram clock, "it's after noon; we have less than twelve hours to rescue those kids. Do you think that's enough time to gather the nations and try and convince them that aliens exist?"

My thoughts went back to the chaos of the meeting we had back at my school's auditorium. I groaned, "We're screwed."

"Not entirely," he typed his screen away to reveal a scene of the English country side. Massive gray boulders stood in a broken circle; some were vertical with horizontal stones lying on top of them. Other large rocks were scattered around the area.

"Are we at Stonehenge?" I asked.

"Yes, it's the perfect place for you to contact the spirits."

My eyes widened, "you know about the spirits?"

He nodded, "I've met several through my years but they don't like me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm an alien; half of them want me off this planet while the other half wants to kill me. Same goes for any other alien they meet. Spirits are protectors of this planet and they can't stand us."

"And you want me to talk to them? I don't know how to contact them, they usually find me. Besides, what if they try to kill you?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," he said, "I also believe you can persuade them not to kill me."

I leaned against my seat, "we're _so_ screwed."

* * *

Dusk came as the last tour bus of the day drove down the dirt road, Neill and I climbed out of the recently cloaked space ship. "So what do we do? Set up torches around the area? Chant in an ancient language?"

"I was thinking you would just call out to them."

"Fine, take all the fun out of it." I walked to the center of Stonehenge. Neill was in his human form as he followed and sat on one of the rocks. I took a deep breath and spoke to the violet sky as the sun sets. "Um hi, spirits, um this is Amy Hawkfeather a.k.a. America. Uh, listen we're in a bit of a jam and we need your help. If you could, I don't know send some people to fight along with us that would be nice." I was met with the sound of crickets, "please?"

"Don't you know any spirits?" Neill asked.

"Don't you?" I snapped.

"Like I said, most wanted to kill me," he exclaimed, "but there is Alfred."

"Wait, you know about the whole cycle of nations and spirits?"

He nodded, "Alfred told me about it after I spent a year looking for him after 9/11."

"Hold on, you mean he took time out of his busy spirit schedule to talk to you but not the nations. Does he not realize how fucked up they were when he so-called died."

"I think it's a rule, none of the former nations can speak to the current."

"Bullshit." Irritation was growing as I shouted at the sky, "Alfred, get your ass down here!" I was met with crickets once again and I screamed, "Don't ignore me you asshole!"

"Amy, be respectful, that's your father-"

"He's not my father! Technically the sky is my father and a star is my mother."

He gave me a confused look, "huh?"

"Oh he didn't tell you about the birds and the bees; well for us it's called the stars and the sky. And Alfred didn't tell me about it, oh no he left that job for a shaman chief with a magickal campfire. That reminds me, where are you old man! The least you can do is talk to me! Oh, wait and there's Nina but she seems to be ignoring me as will! What the hell do I have to do to get your attention?!"

"Well for one you can shut up and turn around," a new male voice spoke from behind.

"Clovis, be nice," a female voice said as a smack of an arm resounded in the air.

I spun to find two young adults sitting on top of a vertical standing boulder. The young man looked like he was about the age of nineteen or twenty. He had light aqua eyes and blond hair that was cut up in layers; the longest layer was tied in a low ponytail. He was dressed in a black graphic t-shirt that displayed a French band's logo, a pair of tight red skinny jeans and black converses.

The young woman was about a year or two older, she had long brown hair and green eyes. She wore a bright green peasant skirt with a tanned tank top and brown sandals. She had a dazzling smile and wore silver Celtic knot rings around her pinky and index fingers on her left hand. A radiant emerald ring on her right hand and a gold necklace with a tree pendant laid at the center of her collar bone.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say you two are spirits," I proclaimed.

The man clapped slowly, "and you would correct," he said sarcastically; his accent seemed to be a mix of French, German, and Latin.

The woman rolled her eyes, "don't mind him; he's in a foul mood." Her accent was English but it sounded old.

"'_Foul mood'_, that doesn't even scratch at the surface. Here she is, practically ordering us to help her when the last spirit that decided to lend a hand got dragged in to the Abyss."

"The last spirit," I whispered to myself till I figured out what he meant. "You mean Nina?"

"Oh look she remembers her name. Didn't you ever wonder what happened to your dear friend Nina? Of course you didn't, you were too busy with shopping and boys to give a damn. Like every other typical teenage girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I have a half of mind to throw one of these boulders at you."

"Bring it on Blondie," his voice became eerily as his eyes turned from aqua to gold, "I'll show you the true power of a spirit."

The woman shoved him off the rock and fell to the ground with a hard thud. "What was that for?!" he shouted at her.

She jumped off and landed with grace, "you were being an ass." She turned to me and smiled, "I'm sorry for Clovis," she offered her hand, "I'm Kaelee."

"Amy," I took her hand and shook it.

She smiled but that smile faded when she glanced to Neill.

Clovis followed her eyes and glared at him, "you have some nerve to show your face, alien."

"I come in peace," Neill gave a cheerful smile.

In a blink of an eye Clovis rose to his feet and tackled Neill to the ground. I grabbed the spirit by the shoulder and threw him so his back would collide into a boulder. "Touch him again and you'll have my foot up your ass," I threatened.

Clovis growled as Kaelee lifted a hand at him, "enough."

"But-"

"I said enough," she commanded.

He grumbled as he sat down with his arms cross. Kaelee turned her attention back to us, "I'm terribly sorry Amy but their kind is not welcomed here."

"Well he's with me so deal with it," I remarked.

Kaelee's eyebrows rose slightly but then she gave a knowing smile, "You are so much like him. So why have you called us?"

"We need your help," I said quickly, "children are being kidnapped by alien outlaws and are going to be sold to other aliens across the galaxies. Neill here is a bounty hunter and I'm a nation but we can't go up against all of them by ourselves."

Kaelee and Clovis remained quiet as they glanced to one another, Kaelee carried a look filled with worry and Clovis carried one of contained rage.

"Nina told me once that spirits like to be friends with kids and Neill said that spirits are protectors so it would make sense that you all would join us right?"

"How the hell did we not hear about this?!" Clovis shouted at Kaelee.

"Have you forgotten what is happening?" Kaelee narrowed her eyes at him. "The Spirit World is in trouble, all of our man power has been put into keeping the balance. Not many of us could venture out into the earth plane and read the newspaper."

I lifted a brow at her, "you must've been away for long time because no one reads the paper anymore."

Clovis snapped, "Can't you see we're having a conversation."

Kaelee smacked him behind the head, "Clovis, focus. If aliens have been able to get under our radar then clearly they think we have been declawed."

"Not entirely," Neill proclaimed, "the stories of your kind nearly destroying the Daevlaions have stuck fear in the hearts of aliens for thousands of years."

"Yet we have outlaws on Earth," Clovis narrowed his eye at him in annoyance.

"Because they're desperate they know that the police force wouldn't follow them. That's why they send out bounty hunters, the less number of aliens that show up in a group the less likely chance you all will explode our planets."

"Okay back up," I exclaimed, "Are you guys saying aliens have been showing up since ancient times?" My eyes widened, "Did they build the pyramids?"

"Of course not," Kaelee proclaimed, "we are the ones that helped the humans."

"Amy, how familiar are you with the Bible?" Neill asked.

"Uh, not much," I admitted

"You do know the tale of Lucifer's fall?"

"From _Supernatural._"

Neill sighed but said, "Okay I guess that works. You see the battle between angles and demons are true but not the way you think. The demons were actually an alien race known as the Daevlaions. They tried to colonized Earth and kill off the humans but the spirits," he gestured to Kaelee and Clovis, "fought back. They took the form of humans but added wings so humans would see them as celestial beings. They then waged a war with the aliens and won by threatening the home planet."

"So angels and demons were actually spirits and aliens. The Christians ain't gonna like that. Wait, how can spirits even threaten another planet?"

"We are star children," Kaelee said as her eyes shined gold for a slight second before fading back to green. "We can harness power from our mother star and set off an explosion of energy from our bodies."

"Also known as a super nova," Clovis explained, "stars exist all over the universe, we can easily track their home planet and make it go boom."

"Of course that power is dangerous, for if we use it when we are weak we could cause our mother star to go super nova before it's time. A child cannot live without its mother," Kaelee added.

"But stars would be next to those planets, wouldn't they fight back?" I asked.

"All stars throughout the universe give birth to spirits and the Spirit World is our home and our home cannot exist without the earth plane. We live in a continuous cycle; the Spirit World and Earth are forever entertained, meaning spirits and humans need each other to survive. Humans give off emotions such as faith, hope, love; these emotions feed the Spirit World and so feed us. The Spirit World in turn gives life to nature."

"Can't say that all humans follow the code of hippies," I proclaimed.

She nodded, "of course humans also give off anger, rage, and hate and all that is thrown into the Abyss. All worlds have a dark side, even ours."

"And we have to keep the balance in our world in check, if not Earth will suffer," Clovis added.

"From what? Earthquakes? Floods? The dead rising and eating the living?" I joked.

"Yes, yes and possibly," he said seriously.

Neill chuckled, "Looks like a zombie apocalypse is in your future."

"Shut up Neill," I said through gritted teeth.

Kaelee clapped her hands, "I believe we have a more pressing manner at hand." With a flick of her wrist a bright glowing sparrow was formed, she whispered into its ear and threw it up into the air. It flapped straight up into the sky and disappeared into the stars.

"You said you couldn't go up against them by yourselves," she smiled as fairies appeared behind her and flew in all directions. Large black bears and massive gray wolves stepped out from behind boulders. Dragons, griffins, and birds soared from above as trolls and goblins jumped from stone to stone. People of different ages that ranged from the elderly to children walked over the hill, gathering around with the animals and mythical creatures.

"Will this be enough," Kaelee said with a mischievous smile.


	10. Chapter 10

The Turks Shipyard was completely deserted. The boatyard was stretched along the River Medway and it contained four other white buildings attached to the main. This massive shipyard had high ceilings and held cargo crates and small boats. The street lights gave a soft glow and all the buildings were lit with fluorescent lightening. The parking lot was filled with space crafts of different sizes and colors. Terrestrial creatures stepped out of the platforms of their ships and walked towards the main structure. Some species I knew, Salkens, Duplins, Aberrations and Ettercaps. While most were aliens that I only caught split second glances of when I was in that building in Paris.

I stood on the roof, watching the aliens walk in. The plan was for some spirits to venture and blend into the crowd while the rest stood behind me. A small blue skinned fairy flew from the crowd and soared to Kaelee, "the children are locked in the cargo boxes; they are separated by country."

"How do you know this?" she asked.

"They were labeled," the fairy answered.

I dug my nails into my palms,_ labeled like cattle_.

Neill flew over on a hover board; he decided to stay in his human form so the spirits wouldn't mistake him with the others. "I've set up the dome," he threw a metal device to Clovis. "When they try to escape, press the button and a force field will cover this entire area."

Clovis grinned evilly, "They're gonna be sitting ducks for us."

"Yes, but please, control yourselves; I need them alive for arrest."

The spirits grew silent and Kaelee proclaimed, "We'll try but we can't keep any promises."

"At least keep Klipto Thas alive."

"The ugly cockroach creature," the blue fairy exclaimed.

"Yes, he's the ring leader of this entire project."

Kaelee agreed, "We won't kill him."

"It's five minutes till midnight," Clovis proclaimed.

Kaelee nodded and placed her hand on my shoulder and the other on Neill's. "You two ready?"

We told her yes and she spoke in an ancient language, this spell made our bodies see-through and floated us down through the ceiling. We were like ghosts as we lowered down into the crowd of aliens. No one could see us or hear us.

Kaelee stopped us in the center of the crowd about six or seven feet away from the stage. I took deep breaths as I clutched the metal rod to my chest. This rod was the length and width of a cane and with a press of a button, it sparked with electrical currents. It was like pole taser. I asked Neill if there were lightsabers, he said no and that it was invention of the human imagination. I was pretty disappointed; I could've been real live Jedi.

Five minutes seemed to drag on for hours, till Neill checked his wristband, "it's time."

Klipto Thas stepped onto the stage, "Welcome, welcome fellow terrestrials. I'm so happy that all of you could make in for our auction. We have a wonderful section of human children, some with the darkest of skin tones that can blend into the emptiness of space. Others with bright colored eyes and hair, a rare section of twins that are mirror images of each other and of course there's a selection of children with amazing talents." With flick of his fingers, a crane clutched on to a cargo crate and placed it slowly behind him. "Shall we begin?"

The crowd clapped and cheered as Kaelee recited a spell and called forth tree roots to spring from the ground. The roots wrapped themselves around the necks of five aliens, hauled them into the air, snapped their necks and tossed their bodies aside. That was the cue for the spirits to come out of hiding.

Spirits took the forms of aliens while others were invisible by the side lines. The ones that were aliens gave a soft glow of golden light so other spirits wouldn't attack them. The invisible ones took forms ranging from massive predatory animals to mythical creatures. Some we're human and battled against aliens either with magick or their bare hands.

The extraterrestrials were taken by surprised but they were ready to hit with a counter attack. They shot back with laser guns and had blasted heads and limbs off, but it was no use. The spirits would regenerate instantly after being shot. These terrestrial beings were no match against them. The spirits defied the laws of nature; they could become an animal, making them as big as giants. As trolls, goblins and ogres they would summon weapons out of thin air and crush skulls with a single collision. Most cast spells of the elements to kill aliens or trap them under ground; keeping their promise to leave some alive for Neill.

I tasered an alien in the gut and caught a side-way view of a group running out of the building. I grinned to myself; they were in for quite a surprise.

* * *

Clovis perked up when he heard the cries of battle rumbling from the building. He smiled like a child on Christmas morning. "Here they come," he shouted to his small army and turned to face the ground as aliens ran out the door. He pressed the button and just as the bounty hunter said, the force field went up like a dome. No one could get in, no one could get out.

Clovis summoned a claymore and lifted it up into the air, "Charge!"

Spirits leaped off the roof, most of the fairies changed into massive dragons and landed on the space ships. They spat out fire to keep the fleeing aliens away from their ships. Two that were in the shape of average humans grew into twenty foot giants. Their skin took on the color of silver as their hair turned light blue. They were now frost giants, a popular giant in folk lore. They stomped on terrestrials and blew cold air to freeze any survivors.

Clovis jumped to stand on a giant's shoulder, "hey now, leave some for the rest of us." He slid down the giant's arm and slit the throat of an over-sized gecko. It's been too long since he had tasted the air of battle. He almost wished that these aliens were more of a challenge to allow the battle to rage on.

As if the fates answered his prayer, an eight foot tall humanoid being stepped out to face him. It was male with six arms, pointed ears, green skin and glowing red eyes with no pupils. The alien roared and Clovis smirked, "I'll make it a fair fight. I won't grow myself to your height and I won't use any magick."

The creature threw three fists at him but he dodged each one and stepped towards the alien. He swung his blade and sliced off its head, red blood rained as the body fell to its knees and collapsed to the ground.

Clovis sighed, "I give you a handicap and you still lost." He spun to face a group of frightened aliens, "whose next?"

* * *

Aliens had tried to form a protective circle, shooting at us from behind their hover boards. Trolls and ogres ran towards them, trying to break the formation but the laser blasts would overwhelm them. Their limbs, torsos and heads would be made into Swiss cheese. They flew back and landed at Kaelee's feet. They were healing rapidly but they were hesitant on jumping back into the fight.

"We need to break their formation," a ten foot tall, brown skinned ogre exclaimed.

"We can go head on again, have more guys in the back this time," I proclaimed.

The ogre glowed, "We're not your shields! We may heal instantly but it still hurts!"

"Thomas," Kaelee said, "if you would be a dear and grab one of those boats?"

The ogre's eyes glanced to one of the blue and orange ships. It was about twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide. Thomas gave a yellowed toothy grin, "Of course." He stomped with his massive feet and used his defined muscles to lift the boat over his head and aimed. "Heads up!"

I covered my head with my arms and watched with amazement as Thomas flung the ship effortlessly through the air. The boat crushed into the hover boards, even squashed a Salken. Kaelee waved her hands as the wind swirled around her and blew the aliens into the air. With flicks of her fingers, she forced the aliens to collide into one another and then finally scattered them throughout the room.

I should've been paying attention to my surroundings instead of watching the show. It left me open for an attack. A creature clawed me in the face, sending me to the ground. Once my vision cleared, I looked up to find Nyla standing over me. She screeched a battle cry and threw another punch. I dodged it by rolling onto my side and jumping to my feet, "someone woke up on the wrong side of the bird's nest."

"You don't seem to heal as quickly as the others," she remarked.

I touched my cheek, the claw marks were slowly fading away. "Yeah, but still it helps when I have to deal with ugly bitches like you."

She slammed another punch into my gut, "you made a mistake of living me alive."

I gritted my teeth together, "Don't worry; I won't make the same mistake again." I bent down and tripped her with a sweep of my leg. She caught herself and swung her foot. I snatched it in mid-air and swung her over my head and slammed her against the floor.

She groaned, "W-what are you?"

"Hm, good question," I jerked her up by the arm and smashed my fist into her face. I repeated this till she was dazed and lost the will to fight back. I dropped her, "I'll get back to you on that."

I snatched the taser rod from the floor and aimed it at a lizard creature, "care to dance?"

It dropped its gun, "I surrender."

"Smart." I tasered it in the chest and it shook violently as it fell. "Now just you wait, Neill will be making his rounds to slap on a new pair of handcuffs on ya."

I scanned the area, there may be more aliens but the spirits had the upper hand. Most were being killed but some were captured in cages made out of stone and metal. Neill rode around on his board and placed metal collars, cuffs and shackles on each apprehended terrestrial, but he was missing the most important one. I craned my neck up to find Klipto making his escape through the cargo crates. I ground my teeth together in rage and chased him through the maze.

He cuts around the corner and I sprinted after him, he slid to a stop when he was met with a dead end. "Nowhere to run," I proclaimed as I took a step towards him.

His eyes widened as he hissed, "How are you alive?! I killed you!"

I shrugged my shoulders as I set the taser rod at full charge, "clearly you didn't."

He looked wildly to his surroundings and forced opened a crate. He pulled out a small Asian boy and used him as a shield. "Come any closer and I'll blast this boy's head off," the boy was about nine or ten years old. He had black hair, dark eyes and pale skin; he wore a white shirt and dark pants, clearly slave apparel. He looked healthy and clean, but he was scared out of his mind.

"Drop your weapon," Klipto ordered and I tossed aside the rod. He smiled (I think.), "Now call off the force field! You want the kids alive right? I'll leave them and be on my way."

I glanced to the boy in his arms, he was weeping in what I thought was Japanese. I sighed and tried to remember the few words that Heisuke had taught me. "_Ī nda yo_," this phase meant 'it's okay', well I hoped that's what it meant. "_Ī nda yo_," I repeated.

The boy stared at me and swallowed back his cries. Klipto glanced to the boy and back to me, "what the hell did you say to him?!"

_He doesn't know Japanese, this could be our chance._ I bit my inner cheek and found Clovis on top of a crate on my right side. He held a finger to his lips and an idea came to mind. "_Kare o kamu! Kare o kamu!_" I shouted.

The boy nodded and bit Klipto. _I was trying to say you kick him, but that works too_. Klipto hissed in pain as I shouted, "Clovis!"

He leaped off the crate, shifted into a tiger and tackled him to the floor. Klipto freed the boy and I dashed to grab him. "You okay? You okay?" I asked as I snatched the laser gun from the floor. The boy nodded as I pushed him behind me and aimed the gun at Klipto's face.

Clovis growled and slowly backed off him. I wielded the gun closer to his face, "on your knees," I exclaimed. Klipto hissed but followed my orders. I took a deep breath as the boy curled his fists into the fabric of my shirt. I glanced to him; he was trembling and hiding his face into the small of my back. He may have had no physical wounds but it didn't mean he wasn't in pain. I glared at Klipto; this bastard had put innocent children through hell and I wasn't about to let him get away with it.

I pistol whipped him in the face, "did you enjoy taking kids from their homes in the dead of night?" I smacked him again, "Did you enjoy labeling them and locking them away like damn animals?!" I kicked him in the gut, my anger was rising, "did you enjoy shooting my brains out?!" I blasted one of his four hands off. He howled in agony and lifted the gun to his head, "let's see how you like it!"

"Amy, stop!" Neill yelled from behind.

I didn't bother to face him; I just held the gun closer to Klipto's forehead. "Amy please," Neill begged, "I need him alive. This isn't the first time he has done this! He has taken and sold thousands of extraterrestrial children across the universe, I need to know where they are and he's my only source!"

I inhaled through my nose as my hand began to shake. Neill placed his hand on my shoulder, "just put the gun down," he whispered.

"You head him," Klipto chuckled, "besides you don't have guts to do it."

I gritted my teeth and shot off an arm, he screamed as I handed the gun to Neill. "Hurry up and arrest him before I shoot his goddamned brains out."

Neill sighed in relief, "you got it." He spoke into his wristband and the metal collar popped out. It wrapped around his neck as cuffs followed and locked on his _now_ three arms. Shackles were placed on his ankles as the metal bands were then connected by bright yellow electrical currents. "Klipto Thas, you are under arrest for selling of intelligent live, hosting an illegal auction, possession of firearms without proper paper work, and child endangerment." He took Klipto away and I turned to the boy who was still hanging on by my shirt.

"_Ī nda yo,_" I said as I ruffled his hair and lifted him up. He wrapped his arms around my neck and I carried him from out of the maze. "What about the other kids?" I asked Clovis as he turned back to his human form.

"It would be a zoo, don't worry we're erasing their memories as we speak," he gestured to the fairies as they glided into each crate. "It's for the best," he proclaimed.

"Agreed," I sighed as a radiant purple fairy fluttered over to the boy. He flinched and I soothed him, "_Ī nda yo._" He nodded and allowed the fairy to touch his forehead. A minute passed as his eyes closed and he collapsed into my arms. He was breathing softly and he looked peaceful.

Clovis and I walked out of the building where the spirits were separating aliens. The dead were thrown into a pile as the others were cuffed and lined up in front of Neill. He lifted his band to his face, "contact headquarters in the Ophelia district." After a minute a humanoid female was displayed on a hologram screen. She had a cat head with brown fur all over her human-like body, her eyes were bright green and she had a pixie cut hair style that blended into her fur. She even wore a spandex uniform.

"Oh Mykrutyszoni," the cat woman smiled, "haven't heard from you in a while."

"Hey there Kitty," he greeted with a smile.

"Don't call me that," she hissed.

"Yes, yes," he grew serious, "I've captured Klipto Thas and several other outlaws, prepare for transport."

She nodded as she typed on a computer, "Transport ready."

Neill held up his wristband and a blue light beamed out and scanned the cuffed aliens. The scan lasted for two minutes till in the light shined even brighter and the aliens were gone in a flash. Neill then moved along to the space crafts and transported them to headquarters.

I laid the boy down in front the Turks Boatyard sign as Kaelee created a blanket out of thin air and covered the boy. "Thanks," I said as I glanced to the pile of dead aliens, "what are we gonna do about them?"

Her hands burst into flames, "I got an idea." She stepped forward and shot out her flames into the pile. Other spirits followed her lead and summoned a blaze to torch the terrestrials. The inferno soared into the sky, frying the bodies till nothing was left but ashes. As the blaze died, Kaelee called out for a gust of wind and scattered the remains into the river.

"Alright, I've called the police, they're on their way," Clovis proclaimed. "Let's move out!"

The spirits transformed into birds and leaped into the air. They dispersed and flew into different directions. I was hesitant to leave the boy and the other children behind till Neill patted my back. "We can wait on the roof."

I nodded as Kaelee fixed the broken windows and moved the shattered ship back to its place in one piece. Once everything was back to normal, I hopped on the hover board behind Neill and we soared to the roof. Clovis and Kaelee followed and waited with us till the lights of the sirens could be seen in the distance.

"Come on Kaelee, we need to go," Clovis said as he helped Kaelee to her feet.

"Wait," I called out and they turned to face me. "Thank you, for everything."

"Yeah, yeah," Clovis exclaimed, "you wouldn't have been able to pull this off without us. We already knew that."

Kaelee smacked him and faced me with a concern look, "Take care of yourself, okay."

I gave her a carefree smile, "I'll be fine."

Kaelee sighed but smiled as she and Clovis vanished.

* * *

I yawned and I bit into my English crumpet. Neill and I sat in a quaint little café in downtown London, watching the seven o'clock morning news. The anchorwoman announced, "Over three to four thousand children have been discovered at the Turks Shipyard early this morning." The screen cuts to a clip of the boatyard. "The children were stored into shipping crates and we're locked inside for over twelve hours." The police propped open the crate doors and carried each kid one after the other into ambulances or tent areas that was filled with medical supplies.

"So far no injuries or signs of abuse have been reported," The anchorwoman was back on the screen. "But what really has officers baffled is that the children have no memory of being kidnapped. No sign of drugs have been used and no evidence has been found in linking anyone to the crime."

"Because they were aliens," I whispered as I sipped my tea.

Neill chuckled and looked out the window into the cloudy sky. I turned back to TV as children were checked by paramedics and the older children were questioned by police. "Scotland Yard has informed us that they will be working with other government officials from the UN to find the culprits of this world wide trafficking ring."

"Not even Sherlock can solve this mystery," I smirked.

"Sherlock is a fictional character," Neill proclaimed.

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

Summer rain was beginning to fall as we sat in our seats and merely observed as the locals opened their umbrellas and continued on with their day. Neill sighed, "I have to get you back to the nations."

I sighed along with him, "I know; I'm in so much trouble."

"I have you plugged in the battery back into your phone?"

"Yeah," I mumbled as glanced to my smart phone, which remarkably had survived laser blasts, major fights with terrestrials and a pesky little goblin that thought my phone was a snack. I have to admit when a spirit commits to a role they stick to it till the end. "There are tons of messages from the nations, my parents and from the president."

"Oh my," Neill said as he sipped his tea.

I laid my head on the table, "I'm in a deep pile of shit here."

"But you have to go back."

"I know, I know," I sighed again. "How did Alfred keep all these secrets? Did he just come up with really good excuses?"

"No, he simply played the role of the fool."

I looked at him, "he _played_ the fool?"

"Don't get me wrong he had his blond moments as you would say, but he was able to keep everyone in the dark by making them believe what they already thought they knew."

I raised an eyebrow, "get to the point."

"When people already believe you act a certain way it's hard to change their opinion of you; and Alfred used this to his advantage. He acted like the fool everyone believed he was."

"Oh," I laughed, "The Fool fooled everyone."

"Now," Neill proclaimed, "what role will you play?"

* * *

Neill was able to transform his space craft into a car, which was pretty cool and helpful for when he had to drive me back to the manor on Inselstraße Island. He stopped the car and I took a deep breath, "Wish me luck," I said as I climbed out of the car.

"You'll be fine, you may not believe me Amy, but you're a lot like him." Neill smiled and drove down the road, in a blink of an eye it morphed into his space ship and shot up into the morning sky.

I adjusted my clothes, which were recently cleaned and pressed. I had added a new brown crop jacket to the outfit replacing the one that was damaged on Wednesday. I opened the iron gate and walked down the dirt road, rental cars were parked along the driveway and I shook out my jacket nervously. I knocked on the door and smiled big and wide when Gilbert opened the door, "hey Gil, what's up?"

His red eyes widened as he quickly checked behind him, stepped out of the house and closed the door. "Where the fuck have you been?!" he whispered harshly. "West is about to explode!"

"I figured," I opened the door and walked past him. "Are all the G9 nations here?"

Gilbert sighed, "yes and they're pissed."

I grinned, "I'm sure they're not that mad." I sauntered over to the living room where the nations were arguing.

"She hasn't answered any of my calls," Arthur proclaimed, "not even from her parents or the president."

"Even Germany's so-called government agent lost her," Yao remarked. "If we were in my country she would have been captured, gagged and delivered after the first hour she pulls her little disappearing act."

"Oh, Yao I knew you cared," I said sweetly as I stepped into the room.

Eight pairs of eyes snapped up to meet me and I smiled, "Sorry about not answering my phone." I strolled in and sat on a leather chair, "so, what I miss?"

Ludwig rose from his seat, "Is that all you have to say?! You've been gone for nearly forty-eight hours and all you have to say is _what I miss_!" He paced around the room, "You broke and jumped out of a window, lead my agents through a wild goose chase and shattered a man's knee cap. He'll never be able to work in the field again!"

Guilt crept under my skin, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kick that hard."

"You didn't mean it;that seems to be your catch phrase." He massaged the bridge of his nose, "All I'm going to ask is why; why did you run off?"

I was silent till: "You want the truth?"

"Yes," he hissed.

"After I lost my temper, I realized," I paused, "I realized that's what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my so-called immortal life. Sitting in a chair, behind a desk, doing paperwork that won't change anything what's so ever. My life will be filled with boring meetings, talking about the world's problems and doing nothing about it.

"You could say that I had early mid-life crisis. I just needed to get out, I needed to release some steam. Granted I over did it with jumping out of that window, and I'm really sorry about that."

Ludwig's forehead throbbed but I continued. "I know you all are trying to make me into this, business woman but that just isn't me. I can accept being a nation but all this," I gestured to them, "is just ridicules. My country may be hundreds of years old but I'm eighteen and before all this I wanted to be a dancer. I know most of you think it's silly but I was really serious about it. I was gonna audition for dance schools all over the country, maybe some around the world. It was my dream.

"Then all of sudden, I'm support to wear a suit, seat behind a desk and be happy about it. I needed a break, I called up some classmates from school that live here and went out on the town. We went to some of the night clubs, checked out that open air movie theater I've been hearing about, we drank, we danced and just had fun."

I made eye contact with Ludwig and held my head up high. "And, I don't regret a single moment of it."

His eye twitched as his hand tightened into a fist. I mentally prepared myself for a slap to the face but he only lectured. His voice was low and mean, "You insolent little girl. You may think what we do means nothing, but you refuse to understand it. I have a half of mind to pack your bags and send you back to America, but I know the last thing you need is to be alone with average people." He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him, "If I have to tie you down in that chair for the rest of your life, then so be it." With a final irritated look, he released my chin and stomped out of the room.

Feliciano spared me a glance before he ran after Ludwig. Arthur rose from his seat and stood before me.

"Arthur-"

"Don't," he cut me off, "I'm deeply disappointed in you." That was all he said as he walked out the room and slammed the front door behind him.

Francis sighed, brushed a hand through his hair and squeezed my shoulder, "I'm glad you're okay." He gave me a smile that didn't reach his eyes and headed for the door. Matthew spared me a worried look as he followed Francis.

"We are wasting our time with you," Yao narrowed his amber eyes at me and struts to the door. Kiku walked beside him, leaving me alone with Ivan and Gilbert.

Ivan smirked and moved to touch my cheek, "such a rebellious girl you are."

Gilbert grabbed his forearm, "should I show you to the door Russia?"

"That is not necessary," Ivan smiled but it was cold and the air seemed to chill between those two. The Russian shoved the albino off and walked out of the manor.

If being lectured by Ludwig wasn't enough, I had to be screamed at by my mom and threatened by the president.

"_You are so lucky I'm not there to smack you! You had me worried! Haven't you been paying attention to the news, there are sick people out there kidnapping pretty girls like you! Amy you have no idea how angry I am at you right now."_ said Mom.

"_If you pull another stunt like this again, I will put a tracking chip inside your skull."_ said the President.

I sighed and stared out into the evening sky. "This sucks," I mumbled. My phone ringed and I winced, "oh fuck, what did I do now?" I glanced to the screen and found it was a news notification. I clicked on the link and found that it was a video about one of the kidnapped kids.

She was about seven years old and was running out of the police station in London to collide into the arms of her parents. The mother lifted the girl to her chest and rocked her back and forth, whispering loving words into her ear. The father wrapped his arms around both of them and kissed the top of the girl's head; all three of them were smiling and wiping away tears of joy as they continued to hold each other.

My heart squeezed as a smile spread from ear to ear. "I don't regret a single moment of it."

* * *

A week passed and we were in our final days of July. Ludwig has been running me into the ground, with more hours of training. My Saturdays were now full days and Sundays became half days. I was also on lock down; I wasn't even allowed to be off the island without someone supervising me and that someone had to be Ludwig. He didn't trust Gilbert to watch me.

Chores were even added; I swept, mopped, and dusted nearly every other day. At that moment I was finishing up the dishes from our dinner of three. Feliciano had left the day after I had returned to the manor and I couldn't help but feel a little sad. He had grown on me and his cheerful attitude would have helped with Ludwig's irritated mood.

The doorbell ringed and Gilbert answered the door. I was drying up the plates and putting them away in the cabinets.

"Amy, I got a surprise for you," Gilbert announced as he stepped into the kitchen.

"What is it?" I turned and found Peter and Raivis standing behind him. I beamed, "Peter! Raivis! Oh my god," I wrapped my arms around them both, "It's so good to see you!" Peter returned my hug while Raivis was too anxious to move. I stepped back, "what are you guys doing here?"

"We just wanted to visit, check up on ya," Peter proclaimed. "Heard about what you pulled at the meeting and I have to say, Britain is being an ass about the whole thing."

I knitted my brows together in confusion, "how did you even know about that?"

"Nations love to gossip."

I sighed, "of course they do."

Ludwig called for Gilbert from his room and he flinched, "if he asks, these two are my guests not yours, got it."

"Got it," I nodded as he walked out of the room. I turned back to the boys, "I'm guessing you're staying."

"Only for a week or so," Raivis said nervously as looked to his duffle bag.

"Uh-huh, I don't know how much fun we can have tho. I'm grounded till, well forever." I continued to set the plates away as Peter forced Raivis to speak.

"T-there is one other r-reason why we came."

I lifted a brow at them as he continued, "y-you remember how Peter saved you back at Mr. Austria's house?"

"Yeah."

"A-and you said that you o-owed us one."

"Yeah."

"Well," he glanced to the ceiling as his cheeks flushed and Peter exclaimed, "Can you help us talk to girls."

I blinked, "huh?"


End file.
